A Sight for City Eyes

I have never really seen right proper clumps of stars - so many that it looks like as if the inky sky isn't really pitch black, but a deep navy blue. Maybe once or twice, out in Greenport, Long Island. My godmother has a house there and as a kid (before she bought the house) my family (and family friends, relatives, etc. etc.) would all go out there for weekends. It was the Hamptons for Greek-Astorians. That's when I would really see the sky.

One time, my dad's cousins and their parents were out at this motel called the Blue Dolphin. The parents were off bbq-ing and the kids were playing in the playground that was on the motel grounds. There were a lot of us (as there always is; think my block full o'kids just transplanting to Greenport on the weekends). One memory that I always cherish is that on that evening, the sky was perfectly clear. Sure, you had the streetlights, but unlike NYC they didn't block and drown out the stars. One guy - I guess he was in his late teens - who was either also staying at the motel with family that we all knew or a local that we knew or worked at the motel rounded us all up when it got really dark had us lie on the grass, look up at the sky and just talk about the different constellations, with the mosquitoes buzzing by us.

Tonight, I did not see a starry sky. I see more stars in Kyoto than I usually do because while Kyoto is a big city, it's not that big and the residential areas get quite dark with the lone streetlight here and there. Instead, before I went to Colleen's dorm for the house dinner and while I was just outside the combini in my neighborhood, I saw an amazing sight:
I have never seen clouds like this before - sort of reminds me of the movie "Twister." Indeed, rainy season is upon us. It was gray all day and there was even a downpour earlier in the afternoon, but this was nothing compared to a gray-before-rain that I have experienced before.


It was just one of those things that you just had to step back, take a moment and just look at. The wind was kicking up, so I actually saw the shapes of the clouds shift; all of those photos were pretty much taken from the same spot. Goes to show how much of a city slicker I am; I have never seen clouds of that intensity before ever in my life. So although I was going to be a few minutes late at Colleen's (who just lives down the road, 2-minute bike ride) I just stood next to my bike, felt the wind on my face and looked up at the sky.