nature: outer space

I used to believe that the stars sang. When they came out in the evening, the chirping would begin; first one star, then two, then a whole host of them, chirping to different rythms, then for one breathtaking moment, singing in unison. The songs used to have words in my head, little repeated phrases like "flower pretty" or "Standard Oil." (I remember being amazed that the stars knew my Daddy was a pilot for Standard Oil. How did they know that?)

I was living in California. Later I found out the sounds I was hearing were made by crickets that came out to chirp as the sun set. I still cherish the sound of crickets today.

I used to believe…

that there really was a man on the moon at all times

I used to believe that the moon was the place where I was living and this planet was a reflection to it.

I used to believe that the moon landing was a fake...all because my mom had made a joke that I thought was real

i used to think we were inside the earth then i thought how do rockets lift off and we cant be on the other side or we will float away then my mom told me the we are on the outside

I used to believe…

As a rather precocious youngster, I had read in an illustrated astronomy book that in 4 billion years or so the Sun would red giant and swallow up the Earth. Since I didn't really understand how much time 4 billion years is, I thought this could happen any day. I had nightmares for months, and my mom didn't believe that that was the reason for them (not something normal kids have).

I thought the patterns on a full moon were people up there at a table having dinner together

I used to think that when the crickets chirped at night, it was the stars making that noise because when I looked at the stars, they neemed to flicker and it corresponded with the chirping of the crickets...sometimes when I listen to the crickets now, I still get the image in my mind of the starts glowing and flickering.

I used to believe…

People told me that the Big Red Spot (storm) on Jupiter was big enough to fit 100 earths into it.

For years after I was scared that the earth would get sucked inside Jupiter.

I used to believe…

When I was in third grade, I read in a science book that someday the sun would become a nova. I must have figured "someday" was imminent because would I lay awake night after night wishing that the sun would not explode and incinerate the Earth. The sun seems to be holding together so far...

I believed that we lived inside the earth, not on it. This was probably because there was a cartoon sticker on my cupboard of two rockets exploding through the surface of the earth. The image left me wondering just how space shuttles actually managed to burst through the earth's 'skin' to make it into space. Bizarre

I believed that the sun sets and rise again as a moon until it was studied in my first Science class.

I used to believe…

one night, a few years ago, my mom and I were sitting outside and enjoying the starry night. My sister, who was about four or five at that time, came out to join us. All of a sudden, she gave a horrified scream and ran indoors. My mom went after her, puzzled as to what had suddenly startled her. My sister explained that when she looked up, all the astronauts in the sky were shining their torchlights at her! She was talking about the stars!

I used to believe…

Until i was, like, 10, I never got the Uranus joke. I'd ask my mom, "Whats a nus? And why am I one?"

I used to believe…

When I was around 8 I used to think about the enormity of the universe and have panic attacks, and sometimes nightmares (blind terror) when I thought about what we humans really are, and how we came into being. I wondered; was our universe just a crumb on the table of a giant. I was always being told off by my Dad for "having my head in the clouds", and forgetting things.

I used to believe…

There is a star cluster called the Hyadees (pronounced "HIGH-uh-deez"), which makes up the bull's face in the constellation of Taurus, the bull. My niece, Heidi, when she was a child, thought it was her very own star cluster, because "Hyades star cluster" sounds quite similar to "Heidi's star cluster'