Why the sky?

My daughter got a telescope for her 4th birthday.

It was one of those gifts that seemed straightforward at the time. She really loves looking up at the night sky and so she asked for one — well, after I told her about them, of course. What I didn’t anticipate was that it would quietly stir something in both of us.

The first clear night we took it outside, we found… the moon. No, not a planet or a comet or a shooting star, just the moon in all its glory — visible from our back garden. It was an amazing moment, though. There’s something about seeing it with your own eyes, rather than on a screen, that makes the scale of it land differently. It’s not information anymore. It’s a feeling.

We’ve been out in the garden a fair few nights since. We’ve looked at different constellations and watched the moon go through its phases.

When it came time to rebuild this site, I kept coming back to that feeling. I wanted something that captured the stillness of standing outside at 8pm, neck tilted back, the rest of the world paused. The starfield, the constellations drawing themselves in as you scroll, the occasional comet drifting through (in my dreams) — none of it is accidental. It’s an attempt to hold that atmosphere in a browser window.

The constellations each represent a section of the site — about me, my work, the stack I use. They draw in line by line, edge by edge, the same way you trace a pattern in the sky once someone points it out to you: you can’t unsee it after. A stick figure, a rocket, a pencil, a bolt of lightning, an envelope. Simple shapes made from the same dots you’d find in any star chart.

I’m not sure a personal site needs a concept. But I like that this one has one. And I like that it came from a birthday present and a clear night and a daughter who went quiet when she saw the moon up close.

On to a better eyepiece.