I have a confession to make. The truth is, up until last year, I didn't really believe that shooting stars existed. I had seen them in all sorts of Disney movies, and everyone seemed to claim to see them whenever we were camping or at the lake, but in all my years I had never seen one, even when I had been looking at the same sky--at the same time--as someone else who claimed to have seen one. I was at the Mona rope swings this last summer, though, and as I was explaining my disbelief to someone, I glanced up at the darkling sky, and there across the vast expanse flared up a streak of brilliant blue. The shooting star lit up the entire sky and seared itself into my memory to never be forgotten. You can, perhaps, imagine my wonder at seeing in such grand spectacle something that I had only recently concluded did not, in fact, exist, but the interesting thing for me is that that sense of awe hasn't faded in my mind. I am still exhilarated by the mere thought of that shooting star. It awakens within me a sense of humility and reverence for nature.
