There is always a first time for everything.
Some first time experiences are more memorable than others, like the time I saw my first shooting star. One beautiful summer day a few years ago, I discovered that a meteor shower was scheduled to appear that night. Not long after, the phone rang. It was my friend Aaron.  Aaron and I always loved going camping together.
“Hey Sam,” he said. “There’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight! Do you want to watch it?”
“When do I not want to go camping with you.” I said.
“Great!” Aaron said, “Let’s go up the canyon to get away from as many city lights as possible.” From the rustling sounds in the background it sounded like Aaron was already beginning to pack for our campout.
“Sounds like a plan.” I said
The rustling stopped. “The only downside is that we have to go with my family” He said gloomily.
“That’s alright. Besides, how did you expect to drive up the canyon, we’re only twelve!”
That evening we went up the canyon, accompanied by Aaron’s family. As we traveled through the woods and the streams of the canyon, my brain was spinning with excitement. We soon found a clearing and began to set up camp.
Being a warm, calm Summer evening, we simply laid down our sleeping bags on the dirt. We laid there, waiting for the show to start. The clearing we had chosen was a more than ideal location. It was far away from the city lights and loud noises of the highway. Tall Juniper trees surrounded the campsite, secluding us from any other campers that may have been nearby. The isolation was perfect for stargazing. I was so excited to finally be able to see a meteor shower. There was no other place I would rather have been at the time. As it became darker and we waited for the show to begin my excitement grew. Clusters of twinkling stars began to appear. Every minute new stars pierced through the darkness.
Suddenly, Aaron shouted, “I saw one! Wow that was huge, did you see that?” The show had begun. I missed the first shooting star, but I wasn’t discouraged. I also missed the next one after that… and the next one… and the next. As time passed my motivation to see a shooting star began to fade. It seemed like no matter how much I would look at the sky, I would always miss the meteors. Even Aaron’s family could spot the shooting stars. Frequent exclamations of, “there’s another one!”, from Aaron and his family told me that I had missed yet another shooting star. It was almost like every time I blinked another meteor would fall. “Why can’t I see any?”, I said in exasperation. Finally, Aaron told me, “Just concentrate on one section of the sky, and eventually a shooting star would fall there.” I took his advice. I stared at a piece of sky right above us. My eyes began to burn. I didn’t dare blink for fear of missing another one. I was having a staring contest with the stars. Just as I felt like my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer I saw one! A beautiful white-streak of light shooting across the sky for a split second. A feeling of satisfaction came over me. I had finally seen a shooting star!
As soon as I saw the first star, others followed. I could finally see. It seems like whenever you first attempt to stargaze it takes a while before you start to see the shooting stars. It’s because your eyes aren’t trained to look for them. Noticing the quick darts of light is a skill your eyes must learn. Now I had learned.
Aaron and I enjoyed the display of shooting stars for the rest of the night. That was a first experience I will never forget.