Herbert George Wells, whose 78th death anniversary will be commemorate tomorrow, dealt with a comet in his famous book, but it was not Perseid. Moreover, as I pointed out last year, Perseid is a celestial event that we can call the "remnant" of a comet. It is a meteor shower.
Imagine you are driving down a dirt road and there is a vehicle in front of you. That is a
comet. The dust from its wheels hits your windscreen and leaves a trail and you have to drive through it. This situation is just like our (Earth's) encounter with the Perseids, we carry their tracks with us. They create a view that we can see once a year.
What happens in the sky is undoubtedly interesting for anyone with a little will to live or imagination. In addition to their rarity, to witness them we have to do something we don't normally do: we have to keep looking up at the sky. We hope that somewhere up there they are passing by. It's not like a solar or lunar eclipse, you never know where the debris is going to go. Even if it is known that 100 of them pass by every hour, is it more important how many we catch or how they make us feel?
I don't feel the need to revisit the issues I discussed last year; it's obvious that we can't see them from the cities. My only hope for next year is to be in a place where I know I can see them well, that's all.
Speaking of hope, as you know, we always wish for a shooting star. Maybe it's the pride of witnessing such a great and rare event, or maybe it's because, like our birthdays, it only happens at certain times. It is a special moment and we want to celebrate it, even from within. From something that seems so "unlikely", we wish for things that we would not normally consider possible. We see it as greater than ourselves, we feel it can do it.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Herbert George Wells in his book speaks of a transformation. It is like a prophecy, people become what they never were. They do what they don't do, say what they don't say. They find themselves in a completely different reality.
I don't know what you think of when you think of what we call change, but personally I am not someone who has had too many changes in my life. I am not saying that this is good or bad, but on the other hand I know that it is necessary. Because whoever we are, change protects us from mediocrity, allows us to experience, helps us keep up with the world and makes us feel alive. As good as that sounds, you know it is usually easier said than done.
The probabilities of natural events are similar to the changes in my life. In my own way, I feel different at certain times. I even know that everyone experiences a change after a certain period of time. It is as if the stars were wandering around somewhere, wagging their tails and throwing their tassels here and there in the black expanse, as if they were shining a light for us. As if, with each of their movements, they wanted to convey to us the spirit of transformation.
Some days are unforgettable. The Perseid meteor showers and the anniversary of Wells' death are like that for me. In all my life I have not been able to observe the Perseids, which I have known for years, nor have I been able to experience a change like Wells, who had been around for years. Nevertheless, life goes on and it is still possible for these things to happen.
That is why, although I will not be able to observe it again this year, my wish from the blinking candles in the sky is this: Perhaps one day, on the night of 12 August and the morning of 13 August, when the dance of the meteors I will be watching has not yet ended, I will undergo a transformation and be able to write wonderful things like Wells.
Through the difficulties to the stars, that shall be my destination.
Related articles:
Comments