It was nights like this that I could feel the earth’s serenity. The calm stillness, the beauty of the moon. Watching the darkness through my telescope recognising that there is a wide universe out there. Infinity around me, up and all around.

Astronomy has always fascinated me. I would spend hours with my grandmother watching the stars. When I was a child, she told me a story about a man in the moon. He lives in one of the many craters and is in charge of the planets and space. One of God’s many angels keeping the solar system in order.

When she died my dad told me that she was now sat with the man in the moon. Helping to keep the universe, the moon and the stars in check. I often imagine her sat with a harp with the other angels. Maybe bossing them around, taking charge. It gives me great peace to think of her up there.

Today I have my own little girl. A little girl who loves to hear about the man in the moon. The night’s when she should be sleeping, she will come and find me lost in the world of stars. It is a story she has told her school friends and her teacher. Mrs Francis did not seem so keen on the idea, a teacher with very little imagination. Rosie was insistent that the man existed. Mrs Francis was quick to tell her that this was childish nonsense. Yes, I had a very upset seven year old.

Helping Rosie to believe and showing her the moon’s craters. Talking about the magic and love. The beauty of the universe and space still unknown. How far does space go? does it really go forever?

Is the universe captured in a ball that we are not aware of? Are we part of an experiment? How accurate was Douglas Adams with ‘Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy’? No one has ever travelled to the end of the universe, how could they? Will they ever? How much is out there that we do not know? The universe is a subject you could philosophise forever and still not know the answer, only theorize.

My husband Greg loves to look at the stars and planets with me. He likes my Grandmother’s story but doesn’t believe it. Saying it is a fairy tale he will just dismiss it. To me if there is a God who made the heavens and earth, why wouldn’t there be an angel on the moon? Sounds like a good vantage point to me.

Sitting here now, watching the night sky, I feel a pull on my sleeve,
“Mummy, is he up there?”
“Yes, Rosie, always.”
“Can I have a look?”
“Of course.” I helped her on to my stool and she looked through the telescope at the moon.
“I see him, I see him.” She said excitedly.
“He is always keeping watch, now why are you awake? it’s late.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”
“You have school tomorrow, come on.”
“Will you read to me?”
“What do you want to read.”
“The man in the moon” I smiled I knew exactly what book she meant. Written by William Joyce and one of her favourite books. Lifting her down, I carried her back to bed. I had only read five pages before she closed her eyes and then I heard her quiet snoring. Placing the book back under her bed I went downstairs to the kitchen.

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Putting milk in a mug for my evening Horlicks, Greg walked in.
“All okay?”
“Yes, do you want Horlicks?”
“Yes, is Rosie alright?”
“She’s back to sleep now, helped by the man in the moon.” Greg smiled he knew what I meant.

Now adding Horlicks to the hot milk, I passed it to Greg and then heated milk for myself. Sitting at the kitchen table we now talked about our day. It is late but we are guilty of conversations late at night when we should be going to sleep.

The stresses of the day, working, cooking, cleaning, family duties. Then school and Rosie. At the end of the day, we are both exhausted. Those couples that fit everything in and still find quality time for each other are lucky. I find myself so worked up with daily life that sitting here with our Horlicks is the most we can manage.

Drinking my Horlicks and scanning my Facebook newsfeed, I caught an article that interested me. There was going to be a total solar eclipse in the next two days and we were in the right location to see it. This would mean that the Sun’s Corona, the aura of plasma that surrounds it, will be visible to the naked eye. It is amazing because it extends so far into space from the sun and stars. I quickly thought about it, it was forecast to happen on Saturday.

There is so much to learn about space and events such as the Solar eclipse. I understand very little about the Sun’s corona, just that it is the pretty fuzziness around the sun.

I smiled to myself thinking about angels in space. I assumed there was no one guarding the sun because they would get burnt. However, they might have super-powers, they are angels after all.

Despite my fascination with astronomy and space we have never travelled to see an eclipse, we have always watched from our garden. Greg got up and went to the drawer for the solar glasses. We are prepared knowing that you should never look directly at the sun.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Saturday soon arrived and we are now stood in our garden with our glasses admiring the eclipse and the Corona. As we stood and watched, Rosie asked,
“Do you think the man in the moon is watching as well?”
“Yes, darling, I’m sure he is up there admiring it as well, he is in charge up there.”

“Mummy, he is doing a good job, it is beautiful.”
“Yes, it really is”. I thought about the beauty of the universe and its intricacies. There is so much that we still need to learn and so much that we can admire and enjoy. I held Rosie’s hand and gave it a squeeze, she looked up at me and squeezed mine back. Happily watching the days amazing spectacle.

Written for Blog Battle –Corona

For more see, Money, a walk and a tight situation. Written for Blog battle Airtight.