At a recent RV boondocking campsite the view back to town was brown, hazy and uninteresting, at least during the day. But when the sun went down it became delightful -- I could see the city lights of Prescott. It is ironic that an RV boondocker, who doesn't particularly care for cities or for camping in them, would enjoy city lights at night.
One of the prettiest sights at night is to camp a few miles above a casino town like Laughlin, NV, and appreciate the contrast between the cold black desert sky and the hot neon strip. Maybe it heightens your sense of separateness to have a view of a distant man-swarm.
But aren't boondockers supposed to rhapsodize about the brightness and beauty of the stars? I would have been a flunky Babylonian. I don't really walk about at night and look at the stars, even though there are few people who have better opportunities to do so than a RV boondocker. But looking back to town on this particular night, I wondered Why Not?
Perhaps it is because it's been decades since I literally slept out under the stars. Perhaps some people, like the T. Rex in "Jurassic Park," are most interested in nature that moves. The stars just sit there. To me, they are uninteresting points of lights and would still appear so, even with a powerful telescope.
It is true that stars are brighter in the dry, thin air of the high country. But does this make them worth fluttering your eyelashes over? It does make the constellations stand out clearer. The human brain finds patterns more interesting than points. It is one of those proclivities that makes us human, like our need to name things.
One of the prettiest sights at night is to camp a few miles above a casino town like Laughlin, NV, and appreciate the contrast between the cold black desert sky and the hot neon strip. Maybe it heightens your sense of separateness to have a view of a distant man-swarm.
But aren't boondockers supposed to rhapsodize about the brightness and beauty of the stars? I would have been a flunky Babylonian. I don't really walk about at night and look at the stars, even though there are few people who have better opportunities to do so than a RV boondocker. But looking back to town on this particular night, I wondered Why Not?
Perhaps it is because it's been decades since I literally slept out under the stars. Perhaps some people, like the T. Rex in "Jurassic Park," are most interested in nature that moves. The stars just sit there. To me, they are uninteresting points of lights and would still appear so, even with a powerful telescope.
It is true that stars are brighter in the dry, thin air of the high country. But does this make them worth fluttering your eyelashes over? It does make the constellations stand out clearer. The human brain finds patterns more interesting than points. It is one of those proclivities that makes us human, like our need to name things.
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