YAWN. Judy and I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. We were outside at 10 p.m. looking to the northeast for meteors and didn't have much luck. She saw a couple of "confirmed" ones and I saw only "maybes." The grass was already damp with dew, but we spread our sleeping bag out and enjoyed the stars anyway. The night air was as chilly as fall and Judy went back to fetch a light blanket. I don't know my summer constellations as well as the winter ones, but there were no clouds to obscure the view, and the half-moon was behind trees at the edge of our field. Not getting instant gratification, we headed inside after 15 minutes (did you?) and set the alarm for 2:30 (did you?). The sky was noticeably darker then, with the moon below the western horizon, and we saw a handful of "shooting stars," but nothing spectacular. The news media had said the peak would be between 3 and 5, so I set the clock again for 4:30. But I didn't wait for that. I went back out at 3:45, promising Judy I'd report back if it was worth her losing even more sleep. She's a real trooper. Me, I'm just crazy. Anyway it was 30 minutes before I reported back. By then I'd seen 15 distinct meteors. One was truly special, leaving a wide trail with an afterglow of several seconds. I told Judy I was going back out since I didn't have to get up at any particular time this morning and she was welcome to join me, but the show had not been overwhelming. She sent me with her blessing. I stuck with it until my total was up to 30, including several really nice ones. The sky scene had changed a bit by that hour and I was able to identify Cassiopeia (Queen of Ethiopia). To her right were the Pleiades (Seven Sisters). And rising in the south was my favorite constellation, Orion. Between his feet, with the aid of a telescope I could have seen the not-so-famous star "Ken Loyd" (courtesy of Jennifer and Amanda many birthdays ago--ask them). It was 5:15 and I figured the peak was past so I headed back in for 2 more hours of precious sleep. Getting up wasn't as hard as I thought, but that's because I didn't have to go to school. I can nap if I need to. And yes, for those of you with inquiring minds, Judy and I are setting up our observation post again tonight. In star-gazing there are no guarantees, and maybe the unknown is part of the intrigue.
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We did go out (all four of us) and only saw 2 during the time of 9:30 til 10. The only excitement to speak of was Lily trying to lay on Emma's head and obscure her view. Mia and I saw a pretty impressive meteor this morning as we started our walk around 5:20, but that was the only one we saw. We did not go out Tuesday night.
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