Twinkle Twinkle little star

I do not quite know why, but I have always been fascinated with the heavens. By this i do not mean that i contemplate the afterlife. No, I am somewhat of a stargazer, as anyone whe has been out drinking should honestly know. Now for an 18-year-old boy this probably seems odd. If the papers are to be believed, surely I as a teenage boy should be some kind of drunken yob. And yet, more often than not, sober or a little tipsy, I will tend to have a brief stare into the heavens, as to admire some of the sheer beauty of what lies beyond our little blue sphere.




It seems all natural to me to have a gaze at something beautiful like a sunset, or a clear star filled sky, or even a snow-filled landscape with a small bird or two fluttering around. Perhaps if I am lucky I will get the joy of a shooting star in the night sky, or perhaps the sight of fork lightning in a thunderstorm. But it pains me sometimes to think that such things sometimes go un-noticed by the people. It pains me to think just how...ignorant they can be of such events. This can be especially true in men, though women are not exempt from ignorance. And yet being a man I look at gentlemen all around me paying no heed to these natural events and sometimes I can't help but think...'is it wrong that I find this amazing?' or 'is it so wrong for me to actually pick out beauty?'. I am sure there are people out there who will say it is wrong that I admire the natural world, especially seeing as I want to serve in the Royal Air Force, so I am instantly expected to be some kind of rock hard soldier with absolutely no feelings of that sort.



But for those who do insist on that narrow view, I shall say this, and only this:



Open your damn eyes.



Yes, I want to be a soldier. Yes, the job I want does require me to fight on the front lines (or to be precise, above them). However, that does not mean I am some kind of burley, brainless gung-ho lunatic. In fact, from my experience, most soldiers, regardless of whether they are Army, Navy or RAF, are quite cultured and are far from brainless. Many actually see things the way I do, appreciating the better things of this world.



So next time you happen to be out on a clear night, why not look up for just a moment. On a snowy day, take a quick glance out of your window. Or on a day where a gentle rain falls, why not take a bit of a wander, just to have a quick glance of the world around you. Trust me...it's a lot better than you might think.