It is the universal statement of a star,
the message Orion
has carried
in winter through the ages:
It is the dark
which illuminates.
~ Lyn Dalebout
What struck me most was the silence. It was a great silence, unlike any I have ever encountered on Earth, so vast and deep that I began to hear my own body... There were more stars in the sky than I expected. The sky was deep black, yet at the same time bright with sunlight. The Earth was small, light blue, and so touchingly alone, our home that must be defended like a holy relic.