And how did the sky make you feel?

How did the sky make you feel at less than 8 years old? Can you remember? What words would an 8 year old use? How does the universe, and studying it,  make you feel now? Would the words be different?  Can you find any words that are not cliche?  I've been thinking about this since a reporter contacted me in order to write a travel article.   

You can check out the article at the National Post.  In the hardcopy version they reprinted the award-winning NRAO image in, sigh, black and white. Other than that it is a good human interest story. 

With respect to the interview process, some of my expressions the reporter did use and others she didn't.  For example, I believe I said "ummm a beach of stars is too cliche" and she used "beach" - ha ha!  But what I came up with as a substitute was probably too geeky - "a vast scattering of mysterious gems". 

So I now feel that it is important to (re-)articulate how I feel every so often so that when I'm asked I might say something, um, pithy ;-)  It is a real challenge.  I'm curious about how other astronomers express themselves when asked to describe looking at the sky and how it makes them feel.