Stars

The Stars: Country Vs. City

            My family and I recently took a trip to my childhood home, Lovell, Wyoming. We made some memories while we stayed at my sister’s place and tried to help my family when life circumstances got in their way. I was excited to return home. There is a family movie theater there called the, Hyart. A place built in the 1950’s that still has the original carpet and stage. This place is retro to the max. The candy stands, the ticket booth, the old time mother’s room set in the balcony-so mothers could still watch the movie and take care of their children. One of the rare jems of a by gone era, that still stands today in all its former glory. I was excited to even go to church in yet another oddity in a small town. 

           The LDS, church there is an awesome site to see. I served my mission in Europe and saw many of the great cathedrals that where in my mission borders. And I can honestly say I grew up going to church in a building that matches the size of some of the grand cathedrals in the UK. The building is a block long and takes up about three fifths of the block it stands on while the rest is a parking lot. Two chapels, the smallest holds about four hundred without filling the choir seats, and a cultural hall that could comfortably fit four college basketball courts side by side.  I wanted to go home and see and feel this place again. Over time some places loose the size we associated with them as a child. Not the church building that resides in Po-dunk Wyoming though. I was excited to see old friends and mentors that touched my life. I wanted to show off my young family. I wanted to be home.

             We had our visit cut short due to some unforeseen circumstances. Not all of what I wanted to do could be accomplished in such a short time. At the end of our visit to the Rose City (Lovell’s nickname) I realized what I truly had missed about my remote mountain home. The Stars.

            I grew up in this small town of 2500 people for 19 years before I left. And I was happy when I was gone. I got to see the world. I traveled the Midlands in England and the South of Wales. I returned home after two years and went to college. Fell in love with several girls, not all at once mind you. Had my heart ripped out a time or two. Moved to Colorado, found the love of my life and got to ski for over 120 days. Fifty-nine days in a row not including Sundays.  Moved to Fort Collins and met the girl who would become my wife. Got married and we brought a daughter into this world. And all the while I was missing home. I had been home. Lived at home and still no peace would come. Never feeling whole. Never feeling like I had ever really come home from the UK. On my last night home in Wyoming, just outside Cody I found out what had been missing. The Stars.

            For those of you who has always lived in the city or never took the time while in some remote place to look up I would suggest it. With my whole being I would ask that you do it. Look up. I had forgotten what it was like to sit outside and look at the stars. In the city it is hard to truly look and see the sky at night for what it really is. There is such a thing as light pollution and I’ll tell you that it blocks out the most amazing thing you will ever see. There is a reason why they call the sky the Milky Way.

            There is something about how the sky is at night that to me fills the voids in my soul. Tells me that I’m home.  It tells me that the bad things in life can’t really harm me. I don’t know how to explain it. It is almost as if deity has created an avenue for me to feel whole again. Though it is only temporary, it is not fleeting like so many other things. I agree wholeheartedly that we have created a society that prides itself with the fact that we can satisfy our impulses instantly. But those things we buy only make us happy for a while. It’s fleeting, it doesn’t last, and it makes you feel worse when it’s all said and done. But this temporary filling leaves you feeling better. It leaves you with hope. The sadness might not go away, the pain might not subside, and the terror and fear might still be waiting for you when your void is once again a void. But you still feel better than you did before. You still have hope.  You feel stronger. The best part of all this is that over time it may begin to help you heal and make your voids smaller. It boosts your strength to be able to deal with the harsh cards life likes to deal your way.

            Do yourself a favor, get out of the city and go on a walk. Look at the sky. You wont regret it. Remember what it was like to be a little kid that was filled with wonder about something, anything. One of my favorite lines from a movie, “Oh and Ned, Take up a cause, fall in love, write a book.” Or in other words.. Go have fun.