Into the Wild

1/2 of a rainbow taken from my balcony

Sometimes I forget where I live. Most days and hours I have my nose in my notes and rarely even look up at the sky. Today I had a spare moment (island holiday) to look up and as usual it struck me how beautiful the surrounding mountains are. I sometimes forget I live on the small percentage of land that contains asphalt and buildings. The rest is lush, tropical forest, and it pretty much looms above and around our small town one one side, while the other side ends at the ocean. I can't complain.

Tonight I ended an extremely productive study day (gotta love local holidays) with a movie at my friend Paul's apartment. After several attempts at getting the laptop sound just right and picking a movie we both had remotely heard of at some point...we decided on Liam Neeson. Always the right choice.

"The Grey" is about a group of airplane crash survivors, led by Liam of course, who are gradually being hunted and picked off by a huge pack of wild, super-wolves. Yea it was pretty bad, but also quite entertaining.

After I left his apartment I realized how late it was; midnight. Although it rained on and off today the sky was surprisingly clear. The moon shined eerily bright in the sky; a large crescent hung low on the horizon above the sea. Not an unusual sight here. But what made the night so amazing was the silence. Usually the night creatures--frogs, insects, bats, night birds--sing together in a cacophany of jungle noise that is sometimes deafening. Tonight, nothing. It was unsettling but not ominous. Guess this what I get for watching wilderness survival movies while living on a remote island.

In any case, as I was walking down my steep hill, I happened to gaze up at the sky at the perfect moment. And there, for 3 seconds I saw the most radiant meteor I have ever witnessed. It was low in the sky, just above the tallest trees and I could make out the entire thing, tail to head. From the brightest yellow tip all the way to the orange, glowing neck to the burning rock that tore through the dark sky. It was spectacular. I waited on my apartment step for a few minutes to see if it was one of many in a meteor shower. I didn't see any others. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

I hate to say it, but I guess I will miss some aspects of living here when I move back to civilization.

Exploring trails with my friend Christian--Fall '11