Illumination Flares

I love listening to Amelia when she finds a new word, many syllables long, to try out.  She carefully wraps her mouth around the word, speaking slowly and drawing out each syllable with delight.

After bible study tonight, Rafe went outside to look at the stars, something he does quite often at night. Our back yard is a huge soccer and baseball field, no lights.  Beyond that are just a few buildings and then the massive oak trees, marsh and ocean inlet.  The breezes are gorgeous coming off the water and you can smell oysters in the air.  There are few lights this side of the island and no traffic this time of night.  Or any time, really, except on the breakfast, lunch and dinner times of Marines going to work, coming home for lunch or coming home from work in the evening.  And even then, it's about 4-6 families this side of the island.

The stars are visible; although not as visible when we first moved here and they hadn't put up street lights yet.  I had forgotten until then how many stars were actually still visible when not polluted by the lights of the city.

Amelia went out with him tonight, and later when I went out with Olivia to meet them, she was snug in Rafe's arms as they were exploring the heavens together and he teaching her about the stars.  It sounds romantic, but I personally think he's teaching her star navigation in preparation for the zombie apocalypse and our run off the grid.

As I came toward them, Amelia turned to me and excitedly said, "Mommy, I've been watching the ee loom in a shun flares!  They look like stars with smoke and then snow and, and, and..."  She was going on and on about the flares.  She was learning to pinpoint their location on the island while the Marines played with fire somewhere off in the distance.  She actually was better at tracking the flares then I was, but that's probably because I'm old and decrepit and she's not.  :)  

I wonder what she'll remember when she grows up, and if she'll remember this magical time on Parris Island... walking in the dark by the water and the trees at night, listening to the wind and smelling the salty marsh air and looking at the stars.  And the illumination flares.