Orion is one of my favourite constellations too! I had a pretty similar childhood experience. I got photocopies of two star charts (for both hemispheres) off a

Orion is one of my favourite constellations too! I had a pretty similar childhood experience. I got photocopies of two star charts (for both hemispheres) off a book I found in my school library and began using the star chart for the northern hemisphere to study the night sky. The winter sky was the best. I was and I still am very fond of the winter sky. I never had to refer to the star chart to locate Orion. It was easily the most recognizable constellation in the winter sky. Rigel and Betelgeuse, the two brightest stars in Orion are also easily recognizable. They are situated diagonally opposite to each other in the constellation. While Rigel shines bright white, Betelgeuse is distinctly reddish. When I later learnt about red giant stars, the reddish hue of Betelgeuse made even more sense. And then if we imagine a straight line that roughly passes through the three stars in Orion's belt and extend it eastwards, the imaginary line ends up in the vicinity of Sirius, the brightest star of the night sky.