The girls were fairly easy to get in bed, little to no fighting, more of a resigned fussing. I had to hop from bed to bed to quiet each one in turn. Once I was sure they were asleep I went back to the den to sit and watch cartoons with Nathan (with cable cartoons can be on 24 hours a day). He asked where his sisters were so I told him in bed, asleep, and not to make much noise because I didn’t want them getting back up. Almost immediately he jumped up and ran to his room. A few minutes later he came back to the den dragging his big moon and star covered comforter behind him. He asked if we could go out and look at the stars. Being a nice night tonight we did just that. He half carried, half dragged his comforter out the door and laid it in the middle of the driveway so we could lie down comfortably.
Once outside and on the ground he started picking out stars and planes and asking if they were UFO’s or rocket ships. Then he said he saw the little spoon in the sky. It took me a minute to realize it was the Little Dipper he was talking about, and he was correct, I think. At least it was one of the Dipper’s he was pointing at, although I think it was the big one, never been an astronomer myself. We spent some time looking at the moon because it was almost full. It was due to be full on the fourth (the day Harry Potter is scheduled to be released in the theaters and Nathan’s life will culminate). We lay there watching it rise through the trees talking about how the earth rotates and what the moon was made of. Oddly enough, Nathan was kind enough to inform me that the moon was made of pure gravity and the earth was made of rubber and cement. As soon as I heard that I tried correcting it as best I could. Then I grabbed a piece of sidewalk chalk and drew a few illustrations to show how the Solar System rotates and the position of the planets.
While I was drawing Kristin started turning the lights off in the house. When she didn’t see me in Nathan’s bed reading him a story (Harry Potter… what else is there to read?) she searched the house. When she didn’t see either of us in the house she stuck her head out the door and found us on the ground talking. She asked what we were doing; I told her we were contemplating the universe. Shaking her head she seemed to like that answer, warned us not to stay out too late because she almost locked us out of the house, and told us goodnight.
We stayed on the ground for a good 30 minutes more discussing light speed and how big the universe is. Nathan informed me that it was “this big” while holding his hands about shoulder width apart and shaking them a little bit to exaggerate the size. He also told me that he could control light and make it start going around the earth by turning on his flashlight. When we were done with the physics stuff (Nathan was happy to tell me everything he knew and some he didn’t) we lay back on the comforter so we could look at the stars again. Since the moon had traveled above the trees we tracked it some more, guessing where it would end up before the sun made it disappear. The wind was blowing through the trees and the crickets were chirping, a few night birds were singing their songs. We could hear a neighborhood dog barking and cars speeding along on a road in the distance. His warm little body snuggled up to me, fidgeting now and again, breathing softly. This was the most peaceful I’ve been in what seems like an eternity. We reluctantly got up and went in the house. Since it was late I read a short story to him about a Gorilla, kissed his forehead, and told him goodnight. This was a good night.
