Summer evenings, summer stars
Gah!! It's hot-very hot-hot and muggy. We were spoiled this summer-cooler temps, not as muggy as it had been. Even when I went up north, it was unusually cool. Blah to those who whined about the temperatures never being above 90 degrees!!! I am happy with cooler summers-75 degrees, with the lower 80s tolerable for a time. But I digress...
The summer has flown by so quickly!!! Mt. Carmel came and went, the week of many actives flew by. Jerm and Allison got hitched! (Yah, I've got lots of pics, but I need to put new batteries in my camera-wedding shower, staff picnic, retirement party, baby shower, wedding from said shower-I used my camera ALOT in the last month!) And now the Feast is upon us! Oh, my-not only do I need to pick up batteries for my camera, but I could use a couple of extra reeds for my clarinet as well!)
I've spent the last couple of evenings (ok, more like later at night) on my back porch reading and enjoying the breeze (strong wind) and other nighttime sounds (crickets chirping, tree frogs, the occassional train whistle). Now that I discovered I do have electricity running to my porch (I've only been here, what, a year almost?) I need to put up my summer lantern lights. Sure the season is almost over, but I've still got plenty of nights to enjoy them (plus, the nails will be in place for my Halloween lights in the fall!!)
Despite my misgivings about the weather, I do love August nights-and this week is one of the best weeks in August! There's the Feast (starts the 13th! We'll be there every night!!) And this is the week the Perseids peak!!! When we were little, my dad would lay out sleeping bags in our front lawn in Minnesota-and we would stay up late and count the meteors. Sometimes my mom would make hot chocolate for us afterwards (it gets cool at night!). I loved doing it and looked forward to it every year growing up. We used to refer to it as 'the tears of St. Lawrence'. This year, the peak is actually during the day for us here in North America (2pm, August 12th), but Sky and Telescope says that either the night of August 11-12, or 12-13 should be good for catching a few meteors. You do have to fight the waning Moon, but Perseids can be pretty bright-so you should be able to spot a few (if the weather holds!) So find an open patch of dark sky, and pull up a blanket or lawn chair, and look towards Perseus and Cassiopeia (11pm-till dawn-best viewing times) You might even catch a few stray meteors from the Delta Auarids and Kappa Cygnids. Check out the article, Perseid Meteors by Moonlight.
Oh, and don’t forget the bug spray!!!!!!!!!
Clear skies and happy veiwing!!
The summer has flown by so quickly!!! Mt. Carmel came and went, the week of many actives flew by. Jerm and Allison got hitched! (Yah, I've got lots of pics, but I need to put new batteries in my camera-wedding shower, staff picnic, retirement party, baby shower, wedding from said shower-I used my camera ALOT in the last month!) And now the Feast is upon us! Oh, my-not only do I need to pick up batteries for my camera, but I could use a couple of extra reeds for my clarinet as well!)
I've spent the last couple of evenings (ok, more like later at night) on my back porch reading and enjoying the breeze (strong wind) and other nighttime sounds (crickets chirping, tree frogs, the occassional train whistle). Now that I discovered I do have electricity running to my porch (I've only been here, what, a year almost?) I need to put up my summer lantern lights. Sure the season is almost over, but I've still got plenty of nights to enjoy them (plus, the nails will be in place for my Halloween lights in the fall!!)
Despite my misgivings about the weather, I do love August nights-and this week is one of the best weeks in August! There's the Feast (starts the 13th! We'll be there every night!!) And this is the week the Perseids peak!!! When we were little, my dad would lay out sleeping bags in our front lawn in Minnesota-and we would stay up late and count the meteors. Sometimes my mom would make hot chocolate for us afterwards (it gets cool at night!). I loved doing it and looked forward to it every year growing up. We used to refer to it as 'the tears of St. Lawrence'. This year, the peak is actually during the day for us here in North America (2pm, August 12th), but Sky and Telescope says that either the night of August 11-12, or 12-13 should be good for catching a few meteors. You do have to fight the waning Moon, but Perseids can be pretty bright-so you should be able to spot a few (if the weather holds!) So find an open patch of dark sky, and pull up a blanket or lawn chair, and look towards Perseus and Cassiopeia (11pm-till dawn-best viewing times) You might even catch a few stray meteors from the Delta Auarids and Kappa Cygnids. Check out the article, Perseid Meteors by Moonlight.
Oh, and don’t forget the bug spray!!!!!!!!!
Clear skies and happy veiwing!!
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