by Maryliz Smith
6am.
I peer out our living room window and locate what I call “the nautical house” on the opposite side of the ravine. An orb of light radiates from a window on the top floor of the house.
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It has become one of my morning rituals. I search for my directional heading. The orb appears at 6am. The orb disappears at 6:30am. Reliable. Constant.
I am told that some sailors still use the stars to navigate. The star called Polaris lies nearly in a direct line with the earth’s rotational axis "above" the North Pole. It stands almost motionless in the sky, and all the stars of the northern hemisphere appear to rotate around it. Its stable position has been an ode to constancy for centuries.
Similarly, I rely on this circular window I now call my North Star.
No matter what my internal state on any given morning, you are there with a directional heading that reminds me of my own steadfastness in the face of unpredictability and change. For this, I am forever grateful to you, my North Star.