Last weekend the Perseid Showers arrived, and when I saw the announcement of their time, I knew school was about to begin and fall was on its way. In this last week, we've had a little rain and a little cool! In fact, as I write this, I have closed the windows because I'm chilly. It is heavenly to have the temperature drop.
For a number of years my husband and I traveled outside the city to a friend's house with sleeping bags and a few treats to contribute to a Perseid party. I repeat this line, but for a different reason: it was heavenly. To snuggle into a sleeping bag on a cool night and watch hundreds of meteors stream across the sky eclipses all the fireworks displays I've ever seen. It is a terrific memory. I wasn't able to watch this year, only some pictures on the news, but I won't forget what I've seen. I found a poem by Rainier Maria Rilke that reminds me of the meteor showers, although it really speaks of stars.
The title is Falling Stars. It begins:
Do you remember still the falling stars
that like swift horses through the heavens raced
Linda, I am enamored of the idea of a Perseid party! An I love the Rilke poem. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen Perseid Showers! How beautiful. What a lovely tradition to have a Perseid party! Now you've got me thinking about how to study stars and the night sky with young children....
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
What a lovely memory and the perfect poem to capture all the good feelings associated with it. Did not know about the Perseid Showers. I need to look skyward more often. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this, Linda. Good luck with the beginning of school. Here's my link for Poetry Friday: http://wp.me/pG1xR-mw
ReplyDeleteYay for cooler weather! Beautiful poem, Linda. Rilke's poems are in the public domain, aren't they? If you wanted to share the whole thing, I think you can.
ReplyDeleteYour Perseid parties sound wonderful. I'm glad you have those memories to visit.
Unexpected change of plans: the roundup is at A Year of Reading http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2012/08/poetry-friday-roundup-is-here.html Thanks for changing your link!
ReplyDeleteI found an app on my iPod that helped me count the meteors in this week's shower. I was up before dawn sitting out in my backyard admiring the sky. I have to say though, unlike Rilke, I didn't see that many stars and I am not feeling particularly safe these days. I am in a rough patch over here, and hoping for better days ahead. Thanks for sharing this poem! I've got you linked now.
ReplyDeleteWe had clouds this year, so no Perseid. Thanks for the poem in replacement!
ReplyDeleteMy husband, sister-in-law, nieces and I were at the lake during the Perseid meteor showers this year. We were sending off sky lanterns in honor of my mother-in-law. We hadn't heard about the showers and it was an unexpected wonder-filled surprise to catch the sky show from the pier on such a perfectly clear, still night. The calm in your post and in Rilke's words captures the feeling precisely.
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