Not a war story......
Yeah, I know I promised one but hey, I actually said "probably". Last night I was up late because I decided to watch the end of the FSU/Penn State game and it's end drug on for quite some time as each team made a serious effort to let the other guy win. Then, there was a thing on Reagan on PBS which I was watching during commercials on the football game and it kept going after the game finally ended.
As an aside, I really like Reagan. I didn't at first although I voted for him. But he turned out pretty good. I know a lot of people rage about how much money he spent in the government and about Iran-contra, and the Contras in general and all sorts of other things. But I liked him. Still do. I think he was an excellent president.
But back tot he main thought, it was about 0130 by this point and I decided to step outside for a bit because there is a meteor shower that goes on this time of the year. I wanted to see some shooting stars. It was clear and cool. The sky was brilliant and I could see Orion, the Pleiades, Mars, and all the other stars, constellations, etc hanging there in the sky above me. I can sit and stare at that show for a LONG time, even if it was cold. I could hear the night birds, and (believe it or not) a frog. (Now really, that just seems wrong to me to be hearing frogs in January.) But there it was. It wasn't the best location for star gazing that I have ever been in. The mountains of south east Afghanistan are fantastic, and an interstate across Arizona at about 2-3 am is so good it can cause you to wreck your car.*
but the sky was good. I stayed out for about 20 minutes, saw a couple of falling stars (including one that calved, or split in two as it came down) It was well worth being up late for. A night well spent.
* Once several years about (1990) I was driving from Georgia to California at this same time of the year and was in Arizona at 2-3 am on the interstate. The road was EMPTY. There were no lights at all except my headlights and the stars and the meteors. I am lucky the road ran straight because I was staring up at the sky more than I was watching the road. I saw an immensely bright meteor streak straight through the sky going east to west, as it faded out on the western sky just where it vanished there was a bloom of light. I was sure I had just seen the meteor hit and a new crater had been made. I was SO excited. I was braking to prepare for the shockwave that was sure to be coming when the light ahead faded and turned into a set of headlight several miles ahead that had crested a hill at just the right moment. It was quite a let down. But still, it was a most exciting and thrilling feeling when I thought I had seen something probably never seen before here. Sigh.....
As an aside, I really like Reagan. I didn't at first although I voted for him. But he turned out pretty good. I know a lot of people rage about how much money he spent in the government and about Iran-contra, and the Contras in general and all sorts of other things. But I liked him. Still do. I think he was an excellent president.
But back tot he main thought, it was about 0130 by this point and I decided to step outside for a bit because there is a meteor shower that goes on this time of the year. I wanted to see some shooting stars. It was clear and cool. The sky was brilliant and I could see Orion, the Pleiades, Mars, and all the other stars, constellations, etc hanging there in the sky above me. I can sit and stare at that show for a LONG time, even if it was cold. I could hear the night birds, and (believe it or not) a frog. (Now really, that just seems wrong to me to be hearing frogs in January.) But there it was. It wasn't the best location for star gazing that I have ever been in. The mountains of south east Afghanistan are fantastic, and an interstate across Arizona at about 2-3 am is so good it can cause you to wreck your car.*
but the sky was good. I stayed out for about 20 minutes, saw a couple of falling stars (including one that calved, or split in two as it came down) It was well worth being up late for. A night well spent.
* Once several years about (1990) I was driving from Georgia to California at this same time of the year and was in Arizona at 2-3 am on the interstate. The road was EMPTY. There were no lights at all except my headlights and the stars and the meteors. I am lucky the road ran straight because I was staring up at the sky more than I was watching the road. I saw an immensely bright meteor streak straight through the sky going east to west, as it faded out on the western sky just where it vanished there was a bloom of light. I was sure I had just seen the meteor hit and a new crater had been made. I was SO excited. I was braking to prepare for the shockwave that was sure to be coming when the light ahead faded and turned into a set of headlight several miles ahead that had crested a hill at just the right moment. It was quite a let down. But still, it was a most exciting and thrilling feeling when I thought I had seen something probably never seen before here. Sigh.....
posted by exMI | 11:08
7 Comments:
We were driving into Yosemite when we saw a spectacular sunset. We pulled over and then dented our car by sitting on the roof.
I once watched a full lunar eclipse in the middle of Yellowstone. ("Hey Liz, Is the moon shrinking?)
I haven't dented the car but I have more than one set of phots of some sunset (or sunrise) taken when I pulled off the side of the road and yanked out my camera.
You know what's funny? I have no opinion on Reagan. I was too young to vote for him (or against him).
I studied US history well up to 1975, then stopped there. I lived US history from 1990 on (I was born earlier but too young to remember politics in the 70s and 80s).
Two things I do know about Reagan is he set aside a lot of land for preservation purposes and he was heavily into astrology (the latter being a very bad thing, considering he let the stars decide when he would appear in public).
I was driving on highway thirty-six (I think) across Northern Kansas, headed to Utah. The oldest son (about three or four) was in the carseat between dear wife and myself, with the second son ensconced in a car bed in the back seat. I was driving directly into the sun, cursing because I couldn't see, when oldest son gripped my arm like a vice, and pointing straight ahead screamed "Look Daddy, the sky is bleeding". Shortly we pulled over to the side of the road, laid a blanket on the dried grass and watched the sky bleed for about an hour and a half. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life.
Zombieslayer, that was Nancy, the female part of the pair that was into astrology.
Three Score - I stand corrected. Nancy I wasn't too crazy about, because even when I was a teen, she seemed to be too "Tipper Gorish."
Post a Comment
<< Home