Andrew Beckham 

Stars Suddenly Appeared​

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Stars Suddenly Appeared was another unexpected gift from the universe. While traversing the frozen surface of Lake of Glass (in Rocky Mountain National Park) in December, I was astonished to see formations on the lake ice that looked remarkably similar to medieval illustrations of stars, perhaps the most notable being the stars painted on the ceiling of a tiny chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. 

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The more I looked, the more I realized these stars emerging from the ice were everywhere, creating complex constellations, with the frozen faultlines scoring the lake’s surface looking uncannily like the illustrative lines defining constellations seen on star charts. Taken as a whole, this was one of the most astonishing experiences I’ve ever had in the winter alpine landscape.