esrosedotblog

HE'S BAAAACK!!

On the way out the door to go to the gym. 430 AM PST. I look up at the eastern sky and there is Orion rising. He has returned.

It is always a kick. He is the only constellation that I know beyond the Big and Little Dippers which I don't count because everyone knows those.

In Orion's case, only almost everyone knows about it. A slightly smaller universe so to speak.

I learned this when I joined the Astronomy Club at Barrett Township Consolidated School. Actually I was a charter member. The science teacher put it together and took all of the members to the a hilly field next to the school which was also behind our house. We had bought star maps for the occasion.

We found Orion.

Actually, there were only two kids. Me and another nerdy teacher's pet.

I don't remember that we had any meetings after the first one. At least none that I attended.

The prospect of searching the skies for stars and seeing pictures that weren't there didn't appeal. Besides, there was television to consider.

I think that the teach probably found other priorities as well. He liked the girls and could be running around rather than spending his time on a hill, in the dark with a couple of kids who didn't give a shit but thought they would get a better grade if they hung out with him.

A few years later, the teacher got into trouble chasing a girl who was still in high school. But that is another story. It was the end of his teaching career in the US. He was last seen heading toward the Sudan to teach in some United Nations school there. Something. Far away from the scandal. A refuge for disgraced teachers. A boon for the natives.

Me? I remembered Orion for the rest of my life and have been saying hello and goodbye to him for over 60 years.

I don't know why I keep this affair with Orion going. It is in my bones by now. Maybe it is for the long lost teacher who I really did like a lot and still want to please.

Labels: life