Where are the Stars

I have been taken recently by the small numbers of stars I see in the night sky. The town I live in, Brunswick, Ga, is hardly a bustling metropolis, yet it seems that as time passes I see fewer and fewer stars/

I know, or rather I am told, that this is because urban lights block the celestial view. I guess that's right but, as I said, I hardly live in a big city. When I was a kid, I lived in Ft Lauderdale, Fl, a much  bigger place, the sky, on clear nights, was filled with an overwhelming sea of stars.  Now, just a few, sometimes nothing.

Every now and then, I wonder what is really happening. Oh, I'm sure that the stars are still there, but it seems that there must be another reason why we no longer see them.

Sometimes, I wonder about a lot of things. We are told that all of those stars are light years away and that scientists, using models based on how bright the various stars are, mathematically determine their distance. Are they correct? Probably, but, here and there, I cannot help asking, what if the basic assumptions they are using are incorrect. After all, no one has gone out with a ruler and measured.

Oh well, this is all just silliness on my part. I am sure that they are correct and I am sure that city lights are the reason our local view of these wonders is blocked. Still, I have to ask, just how much do we know and how much are we guessing? What if we are wrong? Does it really matter?

Truth is, it actually does not matter a whole lot. Whatever we know or don't know does not really affect how we should live. While on this Earth, we are called on to be kind and productive, and, astrology aside, the stars have nothing to do with that. Still, being human, I cannot help wondering, just what is true.