Starry, Black Fountain of Youth

Learning the night sky was such a fun and rewarding experience.  Back then, there weren't astronomy learning tools readily available to all kids.  If you were interested, you had to find an astronomy book and teach yourself.  Everything you learned you earned.

There was no astronomy software or internet.  There were no self-orienting telescopes.  There may have been nice planispheres and celestial globes, but those weren't readily available.  Knowledge of their existence wasn't readily available, either.  When you had a breakthrough, it was exhilarating.  Suddenly, the skies began to reveal their mysteries.

Now, decades later, the years have stolen some of the mystery.  A smattering of envy pops up when something happens in the night sky, and everyone who never really thought to look up before, does.  That awe of the unknown being revealed in the stark blackness is a great experience.  Then, looking up, I'm a kid again.