MILKY WAY 9926 Comet NEOWISE over Devilfish Lake - Grand Portage State Forest - July 16, 2020 "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." -Carl Sagan I thought this quote from the late astronomer Carl Sagan was fitting for this photograph. To me, comets spark the imagination and make me ponder what other wonders are out there yet to be discovered. There is much we have learned but also much that we don't know. To also quote everyone's favorite astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, "We celebrate not knowing". I can relate to that, because the unknown is what often sparks the imagination. The unknown is something that sparks curiosity and the desire to "hack our way through the brush and bramble to the frontier... that boundary between what is known and unknown in the universe. And when you stand there, and look out into the abyss... you can't fear that. It has to attract you. And so, we celebrate not knowing." With my photography, and my night photography in particular, I try to convey this sense of wonder and curiosity and also try to spark the imagination. Whether or not I've succeeded, I suppose, depends upon the individual viewer. I know it works for me. Whenever I see a cool night photograph from another photographer, it sparks my own imagination and makes me want to spend even more time out under the stars, staring out into the vast unknown.
MILKY WAY 9606 Grand Portage, MN This image takes me back once again to one of my favorites, Jack Kornfield, from "Awakening is Real: A Guide to the Deeper Dimensions of the Inner Journey". Jack states: "When you begin to trust more and more that you can live in the present, it doesn't mean you can't think about the past or future, but you live where you are." A little ironic, I suppose, to be thinking and talking about being in the present while gazing at the stars. I say this because when we look at the stars we are literally looking back in time. The light we see from the stars originated long ago. It takes a long time for that light to reach us so when it does, we are looking at light that has already existed for quite some time but exists presently for us. It is in these quiet moments of the night where I feel I am "in the moment" more than any other. It is where I am living, right where I am.
