Friday, August 10, 2007

I Need a Shower

A couple of my favorite childhood memories are watching the Perseid Meteor Shower with my cousin Derrick.
I don't know if I'd go so far to say it was a tradition, but at least twice him and I ended up together to watch "falling stars".
One night him and I laid out sleeping bags on their front lawn at their Orangevale house and, armed with flashlights, spent the night flat on our backs watching the lights in the sky.
But the best nighttime show was when we slept out on the deck next to the pond behind their house in Ophir, because without all the city lights the stars were so bright it seemed like we could reach out and grab them. Of course, EVERY time we slept on the deck the dogs would take off with one or both of my shoes.
As if to signal the end of my summer, Sunday night is this year's Perseid Meteor Shower. I'm trying to come up with some way the kids and I could safely watch. David is set to work overnight, and it just doesn't seem like a good idea for us to venture out in the the desert without him, especially late at night.
There is absolutely no hope of us seeing even one falling star from home (even though 60 per hour are expected) because of all the street lights. The best viewing conditions are going to require a pretty long drive. I hope I don't chicken out.

No comments: