Stepping onto the deck last evening, I caught sight of the crescent moon, turned on its back in the western sky. Catching the orange glow of the setting sun and looming just above a branch of our neighbor's tree, it evoked the grin of the Cheshire Cat, Alice's friend and nemesis.
Both enamored with and frightened by the winter night, humans, like Alice in Wonderland, have long confronted its mysteries and threats. Natives of the Tropics, we are poorly equipped to survive the harsh conditions of winter and, devoid of night vision, we remain at the mercy of creatures that patrol its darkness. And the night sky, with its fabulous cast of glowing objects, has long inspired and threatened man, prompting us to imagine figures and omens in its pattern of moving lights.
As the Cheshire Moon dropped toward the horizon, I turned my attention to bright Jupiter, high in the southern sky, and to the other constellations that adorn our winter nights. Despite our advanced scientific knowledge, we have only begun to understand the worlds beyond our own. One day, if we do not destroy our own civilization first, we will step through the looking glass to explore the rest of our Universe.
