On meteor shower...

I like reading news because the topics are so varied everyday, and it keeps up my interest.

The article this morning on meteor shower evokes memory that I haven't been conscious of for a very long time. I have only seen meteor shower once. This was when I was maybe 14 or 15, back in Hong Kong. I don't know if teens in Asia still do that or not, but back then, we like to go house-camping (as opposed to wild-camping, which is what you would have done in the West, camping out in the wild). Basically, we just had out a vacation rental in more remote area, and just spent the weekend there. Since Hong Kong is such a small place, not too many people get the chance to do wild-camps. We would do various activities, like going to the beach and play in the water, digging clams, BBQ, sometimes hiking.

That night, after we'd had BBQ and a long day on the beach, some of our friends were indoor watching TV. I and a few friends were hanging out on the roof top watching stars in the night sky. It's funny how I have forgotten now who were in that house-camp, but I remember vivdly how clear the sky was and how bright the stars were. And there were so many stars. That's one of those nights when it reminded me how I have wished I know how to read constellation in the night sky. (Due to the urban setting, you don't get to see that many stars in the sky in the city of Hong Kong. I suppose it's worse these days due to the smog.) We were chit-chatting away, and then I lucked out, when I was looking at the right direction, and saw a number of shooting stars coming down over the tree tops in the distance. It's probably not one would call meteor shower, but the fact that I was able to see shooting stars with my own eyes is simply amazing.

My first reaction was to close my eyes and make a wish. That's what people say, that if you make a wish right when you see a shooting star, that wish will come true. You know how teens are like, that they would take things like myths and rumors quite seriously. :) I don't remember now what wish I made, since I only remember my immediate response of making that wish. Right after that, I told my friends about the shooting stars. They all looked, but of course, it's too late. The night sky is back to its still, beautiful form, saved twinkling of stars. It's like a million (countless, actually) fireflies or smiley faces dancing around you. It's heavenly.

I still count it as my luck to have seen the shooting stars that one time. But it'll stay with me for a lifetime.