and the stars in your sky are the stars in mine

Lyrics from a Joan Baez song: "And the stars in your sky, are the stars in mine." Of course that's not strictly true as my Australian friends will point out. But, it's a comforting thought nonetheless. When I'm looking at the stars from my patio at night my Northern hemisphere friends are looking at the same stars, although my many Portland friends are probably seeing clouds...
So, I happened to catch a star report on public broadcasting the other night. The astronomer, looking rather like a mustached teletubby, was pointing out two very bright red stars in the evening sky right now -- Betelgeuse (sp?) and Andromeda. Betelgeuse, pronounced "beetlejuice" is that bright star at Orion's shoulder. To Orion's right, between him and the seven sister stars of the Pleides, is the constellation Taurus. The bull's bright red eye is Andromeda.
I like to know the names of things -- of birds, of wildflowers, of rocks, and apparently of stars as well. When I first started watching birds and learning to recognize and name them, it was if a whole new world opened up to me. Obviously, the birds had always been there, but I noticed them now, and greeted them by name, and started watching their antics and relating to certain frequent visitors to my yard as friends. It's the same with any knowledge I gain about the natural world. I suddenly notice more and my experience of life is richer.
And so it is with these two stars. I intend to google them and find out how far away they are, and what type of star they are, and how big in relation to our sun. And every night I'll greet them, and when they disappear from the evening sky to be replaced by the constellations of summer, I'll miss them until they return next winter.