Stary stary night... no more

I noticed lately whenever I looked up the skies at night. You don't see stars anymore. Just the moon. Even that is only when the timing is right. I guess I was fortunate when I saw a full moon 2 days ago.... and that was like... ages since I last saw it.

Anyway, the stars... so how come I haven't been able to see them? Were they blocked by the thick poluted clouds? Or have they 'floated' too far away from Earth for us to see them again?

It's always nice to be able to see the stars filling up the sky instead of just an empty vacumn up above.