Hilary called. She and the clan are beginning their summer camping vacation plans. And they will be returning to Awenda (partly out of convenience, has good dog beaches). Alex, their youngest, hoped I would join them. Fine with me. Beautiful park although lacks some open vistas for astronomical use. Cutting down trees is not an option... Just kidding. Sheesh...
I checked my calendar (with an only passing interest in "driving" events—long story). The target week is August 13 through 18. Ha ha. That's immediately after the Mount Forest Starfest weekend. If Cindy and Terry are keen to do the Starfest camp weekend, this could turn into a very long vacation / geek out / astronomy fest for me!
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As I popped outside to close the garage (after airing it out—long story), I noticed Venus just above the tree line, very bright, blue white, fantastic. Then, as I rounded the east corner, I saw Saturn. I actually turned back into the backyard, in an effort to orient myself. Cassiopeia was to the north west and vertical—wow, not used to that. I couldn't remember what was "underneath" Cass. Thought I saw Triangulum. Was that Lyra straight up? Didn't look right. I was a little confused.
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Phoned Mary Jane in an effort to piece together some missing parts of this blog. She thinks we visited her family farm (with the cat 'scope) in the summer of 1992. She vaguely recalls we looked at a planet or two. But the memory of watching the rotating night sky for hours was very vivid.
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It occurred to me that when Hilary books their camping site, and I settle on my dates, I should maybe call the park event planner...
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I continue to miss opportunities to quickly observe things, like Saturn. I've gotta figure out a way to ease or speed observing. Maybe I should keep the telescope assembled in the garage... Or if I had a little shed, beside the garage... Hmmm.
And perhaps I should keep the binos out and ready, mounted on the tripod, ready to go.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
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