There is little doubt that most astronomers become obsessed with stars in early childhood. Just like any other astronomer, I discovered my interest in this field at a very early age. I learned about the sky, constellations, and nebulas in grammar school. This was certainly not enough, I wanted to be a witness. Back then, I saw a very interesting telescope Max Bray. It looked amazing, but it also had a hefty price tag. I was just a couple of hundred dollars shy. However, stars motivated me hard enough and I started searching for opportunities to earn money.
Summer days of 1974. My older brother worked at a plant nursery and I was about to join him. The job was fairly simple, I just needed to water the trees. The plantation had numerous big barrels with young saplings inside. Every day, I made my way from one to another and poured water into those barrels.
Image Credit: Ron Leishman
Phoenix is a city that no one can call cold. Over 40°C in the shade is a normal temperature during summer. For me this temperature was harder to endure as saplings mostly grew in the open and finding shade was a tricky task. It was hot, it was uncomfortable, and my boss had a very interesting rule for everyone: if your legs are not “pretty”, you don’t get to wear shorts. There were both an upside and a downside to this. On one hand, I felt the heat of summer harder than ever. On the other hand, my legs were protected from sun burns.
I cannot stress enough how intellectually unchallenging this job was. Obviously, running around and watering trees doesn’t really stimulate one’s mind. Without some intellectual stimulus, I would have gone crazy. So I found a very interesting way to keep myself busy. I started talking to small bugs. More importantly, I put my song writing skills to good use and made small musical etudes to entertain myself and my humble audience of cicadas, bugs, and dragonflies. Another thing that I was doing constantly is imagining how wonderful my first stargazing experience will be. My wage was not the biggest out there and I was paid $1.35 exactly for my hard work. However, at that rate I needed only 8 weeks to buy the telescope. With a strict determination on my face, I wondered from one tree to another.
When the summer finally ended and I bought the telescope, my hard journey achieved me a great experience. Max Bray showed me the rings of Saturn and lunar crates…
I cannot say if my hard work actually affected the power of emotions I experienced when I saw the night sky through the glass of Max Bray. Nonetheless, my memories about that summer and those songs that I made for my fellow bugs will always cheer me up… Just like stars do!