The Long Empty Road

We drove out to the boonies tonight for a dinner invitation from a friend who lives there. Apparently, the boonies is a good place to place a state university. And she, believing that a formal education might benefit her (HA HA), attends the aforementioned university in boonville.

It was an hour and a half through farmland to get there. On the ride back, during the evening, there was nothing but an unlit empty road and a dark horizon. Nothing but the sky, really. The moon was out, unfortunately, putting out all the stars. It was a beautiful moon in the twilight sky, but i was impatient for the stars. As a city girl, it's been eons since i've seen the milky way--not since i was young, on family vacations to the countryside.

Back then, I would sit out at night and just stare at the sky for hours--a beautiful sky of countless stars. After many such nights, i contemplated becoming an astronaut. And as i would look into the heavens, i would imagine a bright future. It would inspire me about life and all it had to offer.

And tonight, looking up at the sky, i could not see an endless sea of stars, the glow of the full moon making it impossible to perceive anything less than it, commanding the attention of anyone who would look up. But i wanted to see the stars again.

Driving today reminded me of all the hopes and dreams i once had for the future, and the sad realization that the future is now here but my hopes and dreams are not with it.

Jude