Under a starry sky

But it hard to see the stars when you live in a city polluted with lighting at night. 
I grew up in Cookstown in the 1950s and 60s. I remember clear night skies when I learned the names of the constellations - the Plough, the Pleiades, Orion, Cassiopeia, Andromeda; and to  identify Mars, Venus and Jupiter - all visible at times to the naked eye. In my first week at boarding school, I led the other girls from our dormitory out through a window to an adjoining flat roof where I pointed out the constellations. The nun who spotted us from the quadrangle almost had a heart-attack. We were rapidly brought back into the dormitory. There were no sanctions. I think the nuns were too relieved to be angry. We were none of us older than eleven.
A regular Sunday outing in my childhood was a drive up into the Sperrins to Lough Fea and Davagh Forest, through townlands whose names are familiar to me still: Lissan, Dunnamore, Tulnacross, Kildress, Beaghmore, Broughderg and the Six Towns (townlands). My friends and I used to cycle up to Lough Fea, and freewheel all the way back to town. I walked through Davagh Forest. I was fascinated by Beaghmore Stone Circles, then hardly known outside the local area and unmarked by signage, either directional or informative. The stone circles are properly signed nowadays, Davagh Forest has an Observatory, and there's now a glamping site, Sperrin View, perfectly situated between the two.  
My husband and I spent a wonderful night at Sperrin View. We dined by firelight, toasted marshmallows at the fire pit, climbed into bed beneath a big viewing window. There was no moon, so the stars were at their brightest. And as the earth rotated, Mars came beautifully, brilliantly into view. It was a memorable experience. I can't wait to go back.