In the city stars are scarce. They shine, but they only spatter the sky. In Lyantonde the stars litter the sky. If you look away from the lights of town the stars appear to take over the black sky at night; except for last week when the moon out shown the stars. Monday night when Eliza and I went out to brush our teeth after dinner we walked into a lighted courtyard. No colours were distinguishable, but the orange tree in the yard cast long shadows. The stars that once blotted the sky had diminished so that the sky resembled that of a city. All but the brightest constellations hid themselves in the moons light. I decided to save the battery in my lantern and turned it off. The moon was bright enough. The next night Eliza and I sat in the moons bright light as Agnes cooked dinner. I asked her if they had a story in Uganda about a man on the moon. “Ahe Ahe. It is a woman. She was collecting firewood on a Sunday so G-d put her on the moon because she was supposed to restie. So he punished her and put her on the moon.”
The next few nights as the moon waxed it continued to rise further left in the sky, and provide us with increased light every night. On Friday the 13th of June the moon filled out to its entirety. Even before dark the moon had already taken a prominent place in the sky, and startled me on my evening run. As I turned a corner its pale façade jumped out at me. That night the sun illuminating as much of the moon as it could. When we went out to brush our teeth lanterns were unnecessary even to use in the latrine if we left the door open. I stood in amazement as I read the words off of my toothpaste tube, and saw the blue and green plaid of my shirt.
Saturday night the moon came up blood orange with just a sliver missing from the top. I went inside to grab my camera, and amazed the family with its ability to capture the women on the moon. I do not know what it will look like tonight, but I know that I miss the stars and want them to come back.
