Big Sky at Night

When most people think of Big Sky Country, they think of blue skies, little or no clouds, rinse and repeat again, again and again. If the day light sky looks as though it goes on forever, the night time sky is second to none. Tonight alone I saw 3 giant shooting stars and 2 dozen satellites. The last time I was out with on of my pal, he had an app for his i-pod touch, that took star gazing to the next level. Hold it up to a specific star or planet and it tells you exactly which one it is. See a satellite, point and click, it tells you all the inside scoop on that particular one. Call it luck of the draw if you will, my first point and shoot at a satellite and it was Russia's oldest satellite still in orbit! O.k., there's another.......point and shoot................................................................The International Space Station! Of all the gin joints in all the world. What are the odds? Well, 2 out of 966 to be exact. Yep, there are currently 966 operational satellites orbiting the earth as we speak. 443 are U.S., 101 are Russian and 69 are China. Plenty of elbow room
enough for all to see and the one thought that comes to mind is, "Oh Heavens, can't we all just get along?"