Last night there was a power outage around 1am.  As my brother put it, "we brushed our teeth by the light of our computers."  Times certainly have changed.
But as I looked out my bedroom window, I saw that for the first time since my family got down here, the sky was perfectly clear.  Down here on the island, a perfectly clear sky means that as I looked out over the water, the sky opened up before me like a planetarium's ceiling.  The first thing I saw was Scorpio, my sign.  It's tail curled across the horizon.  I scanned and found the other easily identifiable constellations.

As I looked longer at the darkness of the night sky, my eyes adjusted and slowly the Milky Way revealed itself.  The stars were so abundant, and their collective glow so radiant, that the galaxy's hazy light blotted the sky above me like the distant lights of a nearby island.

And to top it off, there was lightning.  I'm not sure if this is heat lightning, or lightning from passing storms, but the past few nights its been breathtaking.  Coupled with the stars, it was downright awe-inspiring.  And that's how i felt, awed.

I also saw a spotted eagle ray yesterday.  more awe.