…I got there just as the sky was twilighting. A knowledgeable club member started identifying the points of light we could see with the naked eye, naming stars from memory I'd never even heard of. It was like I had arrived as a guest to a party where I knew no one, but he knew everyone, and he was a kind stranger telling me the names of who was in attendance.

There were multiple telescopes around the small quad and the first one was pointed at the moon. It was a clear night, and at slightly more than half full she was bright and beautiful just to the naked eye.

When I took my first glance in the telescope I immediately recoiled.

Because of the awe.

Seeing the Moon's detail and brightness with my own eyes so vividly that I felt I could reach out and touch her...it was too much.

I took a deep breath and leaned into the telescope's finder a second time.

It took every cell in my body not to weep.

I was breathless, speechless, disoriented.

I was enveloped in awe…