I know many of you have telescopes and probably think what I'm about to say is no big deal, but last Saturday 9/25/04 I saw the Moon through a scope for the first time ever!!! It is so amazing! My dad's friend has a siting scope (actually used for hunting), but you cannot imagine how clear and beautiful the image was. I could see mountains on the top and left-hand sides of the Moon. I've seen many, many pictures on websites, in articles, and in books, but nothing can compare to seeing the Moon with my own eyes. Hopefully one day I'll be able to afford a real telescope.

Well, that's it. Just wanted to share my experience!

I envy you the experience, Kaia. I remember that first time one sees the moon as something other than a white circle in the sky. The clarity of the mountain ranges, the seas, the craters...the sheer reality that this was my own experience, that this was truly existant, that this could in no way be hoaxed...I remember thinking for the first time in my life "My god, that thing really is out there!" I think it was the first time I truly understood what it was to live within a universe, and to have such incredible planetary bodies dancing around our own.

It wonderful isn't it?