I remember as a kid liking the constellation of Orion. It is easy to find, there are other related constellations in the sky as well – Canis Major, Taurus the bull, and the Great Bear, so a story between them tells itself in the sky. The problem is that Orion is a winter constellation and clear winter nights in Wisconsin can get pretty cold, which isn’t ideal stargazing.
Winter anyways is a tough time for me to find reasons to get outside. But lately we had a couple of mild clear nights and the boys and I went outside to look at these constellations. We’ve started a tradition of taking night hikes when we go camping. I had no idea that the boys would connect having looked at constellations with taking a night hike, but they did just that. They came up with a plan that they would wake up before sunrise and we would take a “night” hike. Being a somewhat seasoned father at this point, I told them sure, if by some chance you get up, wake me up and we’ll do it.
Sure enough, 5:00 Sunday morning, they are shaking me awake to go on our night hike. While the youngest actually wanted to drive to a woods and hike (gotta love that enthusiasm), I convinced them that taking the dog and walking through the neighborhood would do well enough. It took a while to get everyone bundled up and to find flashlights and get the dog leashed, but then we were out the door. Orion greeted us just above the horizon to the South in the clear morning sky. There was just a hint of dawn in the sky, but still plenty of darkness for the flashlights to be effective and fun.
Walking the dog through the neighborhood is a pretty routine event around our house, I frequently walk him at night. But for the boys it was fun to explore the familiar neighborhood, in an unfamiliar way. There are owls in the neighborhood. I’ve never seen them, but I hear them lots of nights. The boys liked getting to hear their soft hoo hoos through the quiet dark. By the time that we had returned home, the sun was just starting to rise, making the flashlights less effective, but bringing on our new day. It was our day that started with Orion and a night hike.
