It must have been around 2003 when my brother James and I decided to start an adventure trip company — Outdoor Endeavors. He was a teacher, I was still in college, and we had both spent multiple seasons working at summer camps around the country. We saw how established camps ran their trips (ahem… the fun stuff) and thought we could do something similar around Wisconsin and Michigan’s upper pennisula (the U.P., eh?).
He was 25, I was 22, and we really had no business taking groups rafting, climbing, hiking, mountain biking, and canoeing for days and weeks at a time. A million-billion thanks to the parents and groups who put their trust in us during those summers, as they are still some of my favorite summer memories.
It was during those summer camping trips when I truly started to appreciate the night sky.
My earliest recollection of this insight happened during a week-long canoe trip on the Wisconsin River with a group from inner-city Chicago. We had finished a long slog of a paddle, battling a constant headwind, when we set up an island camp and got dinner cooking. The campfire that night was perfect for our famous Pudgy Pies cooked in the fire’s “hot box.”
When the conversation died down, one of the campers looked up at the sky and literally screamed. He had never seen stars before.
Stars are magic. They give us perspective like very little else can. They can make us feel both tiny and insignificant while also reminding us of the enormity of the universe.
So the next time you’re out camping or walking your dog on a clear, dark night, take a second and look up. You’ll see why we’ve created designs we sell in the store of the night sky.
And keep in mind, not everyone has the gift of seeing the stars.
