Star-spangled Nights

By Beth Carpenter

An upcoming event – more about that later – got me thinking about stars. I grew up on a farm, about five miles from the nearest town, and one of the great things about living in the country is the clear night sky. I remember going outside one warm night with my dad. He showed me the Milky Way, Orion’s belt, and the Big Dipper which makes up part of Ursa Major (the Great Bear). The Big Dipper is special, because if you line up the two stars on the end of the dipper, they point directly toward the North Star, which is the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper. And if you can find the North Star, you can always find true north.

I grew up, got married, and moved to Wyoming. It was different than the Texas plains, but the same stars were there.

Photo by Bob Hoyle, park ranger naturalist and former professor of astronomy

Several years later, we moved to Alaska, and there was Big Dipper again, right there on the state flag. The flag was designed in 1927 by thirteen-year-old Benny Benson, who lived in the Jesse Lee Home orphanage in Seward. His design won him $1000, a gold watch, and a trip to Washington DC. Along with his winning design, he submitted this description, “The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaskan flower. The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the union. The Dipper is for the great Bear — symbolizing strength." I may be biased, but I think Alaska's flag is one of the most beautiful in the country.   

One more star that’s special for me is the star that lights up over Anchorage every year at Christmastime, thanks to the crews from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. It sits on a mountainside in Arctic Valley and shines down over the Anchorage bowl. And whenever I see it, I smile.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Army

And speaking of smiles, I want to tell you about that event I mentioned earlier. We’re having a Starry Night and Romance Party and you’re invited! A group of Heartwarming authors and guests will be celebrating new books and holiday cheer next month on Facebook. We’ll be giving out great prizes and having lots of fun, so check it out here. November 29^th will be here before you know it.

So how about you? Do you have any special memories under the stars?

 Beth’s next book in the Northern Lights series, A Gift for Santa, will release on December 5^th and is currently available for preorder. The first book in the series, The Alaskan Catch, is on sale now.

And until Oct. 31st, you can enter for a chance to win A Gift for Santa on Goodreads.