[BigV]

"beat"... well... not a competition.

But I was on a cruise once through the South Pacific. Between Tahiti and Australia there were some lovely islands where we made port. There were also some "sea days" (and nights) where it was just our lonely tiny boat out in the middle of a LOT of water. On one of those nights at see, I went forward. There was one deck that ran around the ship including across the front of the ship. This is kind of unusual, most of the action is aft, or along the sides of the ship. On the back of the ship there are lots of lights, that's where the party is. But forward, they keep it dark so they can see the lights of any boat that might be ahead of them. It was a moonless night, and the sky was full of stars overhead. As I looked all around, I noticed that the density of the stars in the sky did not diminish as my my gaze moved downward from the zenith to the horizon. The sky at the horizon was just as dark as the sky overhead, and just as full of stars. I've never seen anything like it. Everywhere else I've been, the sky was lighter near the horizon, and consequently more washed out for stargazing. Not this night. It was awesome.