09 Aug 2015

« San Lorenzo, I know why so many
of the stars in the tranquil air
burn and fall, why such great weeping
in the hollow sky sparkles... »

With these verses Pascoli praised the night of San Lorenzo, interpreting the stars as tears shed by the Saint for the martyrdom he suffered.

The night of August 10, for laypeople, is actually the quintessential symbolic date of a period when it is generally easier to spot the much-loved shooting stars. In these days, in fact, they become more visible to us because the Earth crosses the meteor shower of the Perseids, and the atmosphere is crossed by a number of small meteors much higher than usual. These are then easier to see with the human eye thanks to the generally clear atmospheric conditions that characterize summer.

However, the light pollution so typical of cities and inhabited centers inhibits our ability to see this spectacle. So the mountain, closer to the sky and lacking in many places of human lights, becomes an open-air observatory from which it is possible to admire the constellations, the Milky Way and, in these days, spot a true swarm of stars that traverse our sky far and wide. Giving life to one of the oldest, most fascinating and evocative spectacles that Creation offers to humanity.

Take the car and "lose yourself" on some mountain pass, go up, up high, where lights do not exist and lift your eyes to the sky; you will notice the vast number of existing stars and you will be able to see shooting stars galore, giving yourself a unique and magical moment.