Dylan doesn’t like the dark. He doesn’t like it if all of the lights are off downstairs, or upstairs, we have to have nightlights on all the time for the little guy. I,on the other hand love the dark… I long for cloudy days, stormy skies, and pitch black nighttime.

When I had Dylan it was an entire year before I went outside at nighttime. I was saddened that it had really been that long since I had seen the night sky, and then I remember looking up at all of the stars, and being blown away by just what I saw. I remember a big bright moon, and stars, so many stars. I fell in love with astronomy a little bit more that night.

I still sneak out whenever I can. I love to look at the moon, I get goose bumps when I find Venus or Mars in the sky, and I could stare at those twinkling stars forever.

Still, Dylan is scared of the dark, so Monday I kept him out later than usual, and I introduced him to the stars. We found the big dipper, spotted Orion, and a large moon too. I told him that if it wasn’t for the dark, we would never see those beautiful sights. He had a lot of questions for me too, how far away were the stars, and which one was which, he didn’t even notice that he was outside, in the dark.

Maybe I’ll have another astronomy fan in my household, I just hope the night sky calms his fears just a bit.