For those of you who want to visit Kauai and are coming from a big city on the mainland, our night sky is going to come as a bit of a shock. You see, our island is a wonderful tropical paradise, an island floating on the water in a crystal clear ocean underneath billions of stars. And, unlike in the big cities, you can actually see all of the stars you want.

I often find myself going outside at night when the breeze starts to blow across the warm landscape, sitting in my lounge chair on my lanai and watching the sky. The stars are brilliant points of distant light, clustered into shapes and sparkling in the night sky. I’ve often wondered if I should get a telescope and really be able to see them, but I never have. Somehow, I think it would take away the wonder of it all.

Of course, there are many stargazers on our island. In fact, there is a starwatch that happens on the Saturday closest to the New Moon every month. The Kauai Educational Association for Science & Astronomy conducts this starwatch on the softball field in Kaumakani. For those who want to join them, all you have to do is take the highway west past mile marker 18 and look for signs on the right that say “KEASA.” The signs will direct you to the meeting.

As for me, I watch from the comfort of my lanai, coffee in hand and blanket covering my legs, waiting for the heavens to amazing me. They usually do.