Attempting to chase a stray lizard from the spotless white wall of our room brought me to the balcony, where I discovered the stars, a milky diaspora so bright and crisp, it was as if seeing them for the first time. As my eyes widened to sop up the darkness, more stars appeared, and the bright pinpricks of constellations receded among them. (How did the ancients discern those shapes when total nighttime darkness let them see the stars in such abundance, when the Milky Way seemed a contiguous blob that cast shadows in the night?) Then, once I was able to see the neighboring islands against the horizon, a small streak of red shot from the crater of Stromboli’s perfect cone, hung suspended over the mountainside for a moment, and slowly faded to blackness. Somewhere to the north and maybe west of there, mysterious flashes would appear, too local and yellow to be lightning. So much hiding in that blackness of darkness! I never did oust the lizard…

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