it was our first night at anchor. tucked into the lee of useppa island the water was flat, the wind non-existent. we floated oh so gently. the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky became pink and all was calm.

i lay on the cabin top and waited. from east to west a carpet of sparkly stars came into being. twilight became night, we were cloaked in midnight blue velvet. with lots of sparkles. someday i would like to work with diamonds because they sparkle so beautifully. they are like stars. there are the tiny white pinpricks of stars, the dense constellations better seen with peripheral vision, the lonely by-themselves flashlight stars. then there are the sparklers, the dazzling flashing stars that shimmer a blue-white hard light like a diamond in the sun, or the yellow/red/white stars bright and stong. it’s nature’s gem show in the sky.