My husband has a telescope. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a lot more effective than the pair of binoculars my folks had while I was growing up.

We’d been watching a Discovery Channel program about the moon one day shortly before the moon was full, and I became inspired. We pulled the telescope away from its usual duty as living room decor and out onto the back porch. It took three tries to find a lens that let us get a good look at the moon (not to mention a lot of “hmm”ing and “grrr”ing as we tried to get the aim just right), but when we did, I was impressed.

There’s not a lot to see on the moon, but somehow, seeing the craters and “seas” with your own eyes is much more impressive than looking at a picture. We are fortunate because our house is in a minimally-populated area which makes the view so much better. With very little light pollution, you really can look into a clear night sky and see the Milky Way. I’ve learned to pick out many of the major constellations and locate the North Star. I’m afraid that if I ever found myself lost at sea, this wouldn’t do me much good, but it isn’t a bad hobby.

In fact, there aren’t many places in the Hills where the view of the night sky is bad (weather permitting). There is even an Astronomical Society who hold “Star Parties” at an observatory not too far from where I live. Their telescopes are way cooler than mine.

But even with no telescope at all, there is nothing like looking up at a sky full of stars, no lights for miles around, and getting a real dose of perspective on your place in the universe. I’ve met people who have lived in big cities all their lives and never realized before coming to visit the Black Hills how many stars are really up there. I’ll give you a hint, and then go take a look for yourself: more than you could count if you had every night for the rest of your life to try.