I looked at the stars tonight.

Behind several tall leafless trees, the Moon sat to the west, golden and half-full. It hung curved side down about 30 degrees from the horizon.

Just a tad south of it was Orion, it's stars the crispest I have seen in months. The three stars in its belt twinkled with a hint of blue. Stars were visible throughout the entire sky. Hundreds of faint stars, dim stars, and red ones. The bright white stars and major constellations stood out the most; speckled across the entire sky. Clear crisp night skies are lucky around here. Usually the light from the city overpowers most of the stars. As I gazed, a plane silently soared high above. The dull city glow gave the plane contrails a ghastly glow against the black of the night. Silently it headed south, blinking its lights as a train horn howled off in the distance.