It has been a long time since I last wrote an article. I was busy settling into my new rhythm after getting back to Canada and suddenly a cluster of events happened one after another that delayed this settling-in process. I am still in the middle of it but I have a bit more time now and I thought I had to get back to writing.
Summer ended three days ago, on September 22nd, and the Earth reached a position where day and night were almost equal in length. Since that day (the fall equinox) the days will get shorter and the nights longer.
I have mixed feelings about it. I like the seasons. There are many tropical countries that don't have the kind of seasonal changes we experience in Canada, so I am grateful to experience them. But the thought of winter, long nights, low temperatures, and nonstop snow here in Big White makes me shiver.
But I cannot do anything about it. I probably just need to try to see its hidden beauty. I am probably over-dramatizing it.
Last week, we went to the Kelowna Observatory. It is halfway between Kelowna and Big White. When we got there, everything was dark. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness and for me to start noticing movements and distinguishing people and telescopes.
It was not a cold night in Big White but at the observatory it was pretty cold. I was lucky because a friend of ours had advised us to put on warm clothes, so we were properly dressed. Still, we were surprised by how cold it felt there.
Well, after all, cloudless nights are cold nights ;) and they picked a cloudless night so we could see the sky events clearly.
It was an open-air event and there were five or six advanced telescopes through which we could see Venus, the Moon, the M3 cluster, and stars. We could also see the arm of the Milky Way passing above our heads.
It gave me goosebumps, not because I was unaware of the presence of the planets, the stars and the Milky Way, but because I have been insensitive to their magic.
I just get used to them and go about my life, as if the stars, the wonderful galaxies, the black holes, and all those things in the sky that we don't even know about don't matter anymore, while my daily challenges and headaches matter so much more.
That night, under the night sky, with that big, bright arm of the Milky Way right above my head, I started wondering why I have been and why am I still so blind?
September 25, 2026
Big white mountain
They repeatedly asked us not to turn on any white lights. We were only allowed to turn on a red light only if we needed it. And it made sense. Sometimes there were flashes of white light and each time that happened, my eyes lost their ability to see in the dark. It would then take a while for them to adjust again.
