Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Drops of Jupiter

My son's current obsession is with the solar system. For Christmas he got s telescope. he checked out about a gazillion books on the different planets, asteroids and other heavenly bodies. Each night we read a kittle bit more at bedtime. I'm enjoying it as much as he is.
True confession time: I love astronomy. I love stargazing. Want to know an incredibly romantic movie scene? In a beautiful mind when Russell Crowe is tracing constellations with Jennifer Connolly's fingers. One of my favorite things to do at night in the summer was to lay out on a blanket and look up at the sky. Sometimes you can catch a shooting star (actually it's s meteor, but that doesn't have quite the same ring) rushing by.
(Since I read Neil Gaiman's Stardust, the book's plot is foremost in my mind when I see one)
I mark the Perseid & Leonids showers on my calendar and set my alarm to catch them.
Its exciting to see my son develop an interest independently in something that's one of my passions.
In fact, he's so passionate about space he can recite random facts like I can recite my chore list. Tonight in our Children's group, we took advantage of beautiful weather and spring fever to color our church courtyard with pictures of G-d's creation. My son decided to recreate the solar system out of sidewalk chalk, complete with the asteroid belt and kuiper belt. Creative genius I tell you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6IN-s_L6vs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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