A Magical Night on the Blue Ridge Parkway - My favorite photo of 2021

I pulled into a parking space at Yellow Face Overlook, one of many scenic overlooks that dot the Blue Ridge Parkway. I stepped out into the cool, dark September air and was instantly cloaked in the night’s magical aura.  Just hours earlier I had been with friends in Great Smokey Mountains National Park photographing elk. It had been a noisy, busy and exciting day, but now, standing alone below Waterrock Knob, I was embraced by the serenity of the star-filled sky twinkling silently above the Blue Ridge Mountains. It felt lonely yet wonderful all at the same time. As an introvert, I crave these solitary adventures. For me, it is a luxury to spend time alone, especially when gazing at the cosmos. 

The moonless night and cloudless sky conspired to create the perfect conditions for viewing and photographing The Milky Way, and that is exactly why I was there. 

The Milky Way galaxy, our celestial home, is one of over 200 billion galaxies in the universe. As galaxies go, ours is mid sized, containing an estimated 300 billion stars. From our vantage point out here on one of the spiral arms, when we gaze skyward, we can see the galactic core a mere 26,000 light years away. The enormity and scale of creation, the number of star systems and worlds in the universe is practically impossible for mortal minds to comprehend.

Outfitted with my brand new Sigma 14mm, 1.8 lens, I plopped my Nikon atop the tripod and started making the necessary mental calculations. A long exposure, a high ISO and a wide open aperture captures so much more than the unaided eye can see, and following each exposure, I stared at the camera’s rear display in amazement and delight. Stars! So many stars! I continued to shoot and with each shot I found myself trying to conceptualize the enormity of the scene. Surely out in that vast, infinite universe, there are others, somewhere, gazing back my way, pondering the same questions. 

Last week I read that NASA recently hired 24 Theologians to consider the implications of contact with extraterrestrials. Their mission is to study the deeper meanings of what contact with extraterrestrial life will mean for us. These theologians are tasked with considering and providing religious and spiritual guidance to us Earthlings if/when contact with aliens occurs. 

Why wasn’t this a bigger news story? Does NASA have a secret?  Are we being prepared for something huge?

To me NASA hiring Theologians is a huge news story, but we likely did not hear about it because it’s hard to find real news these days. Media outlets tend to feed us a never ending diet of manufactured controversy, bitterness and political division. Sadly, we take the bait. 

I get it. 2021 has been rough. It has stretched us thin and tried us all. But maybe instead of retreating into our silos and letting hate grow in our hearts, perhaps we should take a better approach - love, kindness and understanding. After all, from a galactic standpoint, all us Earth dwellers are brothers and sisters. I think Carl Sagan expressed it best when he said, “For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.”

I don’t know if NASA is gently preparing us for a first contact or not, but what I do believe is this: we must get our shit together and collectively become better people. If we don’t, our galactic neighbors won’t even slow down for us. They will see all the chaos, pettiness and hate, and they will hit the gas and keep right on going. “Keep driving Lloyd—there is no intelligent life down there! We’ll take that casserole in the back seat on over to the next galaxy.” And with that, our opportunity to learn of other worlds and other civilizations will be lost.

Back on the parkway, I continued to photograph the stars and I wondered: are we merely inconsequential specks in this vast cosmic opera, or are we each of grand and immeasurable value? What is our purpose here? Is there life out there patiently waiting for us to evolve to a higher state where we can perceive it? Accept it? Be worthy of it? 

My questions and thoughts lingered. As I packed up my gear in the back of the Jeep, I heard the gentle rustling of leaves. I felt a chill and sensed the changing of the seasons. I glanced back up at the cosmos one last time and was rewarded with the sight of a brilliant shooting star. It streaked through the sky above the mountain tops and burned up in the atmosphere thus ending its journey from heaven to Earth—a majestic sighting made even more precious by its rarity and impermanence. I smiled in reply, and slowly drove away, grateful for the night and the divine response to my silent inquiries.