Starry Night

It was 1980 and I was working as a bench jeweler in the San Franciso Bay area. My employer, Jim, was looking at a possible investment in the form of a gold mine in Oregon. His friend owned a lovely Beechcraft Bonanza and offered to fly us up to the mine to check it out. I love small planes. I grew up flying with my Dad in his single engine airplane. So, this was a chance for me to fly and see a landscape other than Long Island! The gold mine sounded like something worth seeing as well, so I jumped at the chance to tag along. Well, we got to the mine and it was totally devoid of interest; stripped out, muddy and looked like a bad dream. We politely traipsed around and as soon as we could high-tail it out of there, we did. What I remember or should say, what I will never forget, was the flight home. Dusk turned to dark and we could see from San Francisco all the way to Sacramento. Stars were brightly shining in a moonless sky and the lights were clearly visible from the cities below. The pilot turned off the cabin light and we were literally floating in a sea of tiny lights. The sky and land became one and everything was twinkling. Just breathtaking!