August 12, 2024
The note came in the afternoon. It was simple. “Do you want
to go out to Fred Wooley’s to watch the meteors tonight?” Do I want to go to
the meteor showers? Of course, I do! I send back my affirmation and wait for
the reply. The caravan, okay, just one car, would be picking me up at 11:25. I
gather all of the needed equipment…my chair, flashlight and sweatshirt as these
mid-August days have showered us with not only meteors, but spectacular
weather.
I have always loved the Perseid Meteor showers. I have such
a fascination with the sky. There is also a personal reason for loving these
showers. My twin sons, Adam and Aaron, were born during the Perseid Meteor
showers. When we were all living at the farm, their birthday night was spent
watching the showers. I filled a thermos with hot chocolate and spread the blankets
out under the stars for our birthday viewing. All of us on the blanket watching
the sky waiting, waiting for shooting stars was a great adventure! “Choose one
for your birthday present.” Sometimes the sky was full, but other times we
would just wait and wait, and the boys would beg to go to bed! Years later we
spent the evening at Pokagon listening to star stories and viewing the
magnificent sky with the telescopes all set up. Now that they are grown up and
gone, I still remind them to go watch the meteor showers. Sometimes birthday
gifts do not come wrapped up in ribbons.
What are the Perseid showers? First of all, these brilliant
fireballs are actually leftover pieces from comets and broken asteroids. In
1862 it was Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle who made the discovery of these
showers. In 1865 Giovanni Schiaparelli was the first to notice these meteors
were coming from the Perseus constellation. Although, to be clear, the
constellation has nothing to do with the showers, just the location. All we
really need to know is that the first two weeks of August are dedicated to the
Perseids, and I love that.
At 11:25 Hope Wilson picks me up. We put my chair in the
back and head off to pick up our friend, Jan Mccauley. It is dark and on the
back roads of Fremont, it feels as if we have entered another country. Critters
scamper across the road…deer, raccoons, opossums. Jan puts her chair in the
back, and we chat and laugh all the way to Fred’s house in the country. He is
waiting for us with chairs already set up. It is dark except for his garage
lights which he shuts off after we get situated. Once the lights are off and we
are ready, Fred shares his sky knowledge with us by pointing out the Summer
Triangle which literally glistens in the dark sky. He points out other summer
constellations as we literally ooh and ahh over the beauty. Because it is so
dark, we are able to clearly see the vast Milky Way. There is much chatter, but
there is also silence as we each in our own way let the dark night seep into
our souls for the complete beauty of the evening. It is cold though, so Fred
goes in and brings out lovely woolen blankets which we gladly accept. We are
completely absorbed by the sky. Each meteor finds us exclaiming loudly. We don’t
all see each one as there is a lot of sky to admire. There are a few fireballs
which streak across the night sky leaving us a bit breathless. We stay until
2:00 and then decide to call it a night. We figured, between all of us, we
probably saw 25 or more meteors! We thank Fred for his kindness, his stories,
and his blankets before we head back out into the quiet night. Hope actually
put the heat on in the car!
Driving home, we watch for deer and opossums and talk about
the night. What words do I have for that? Magical? Beautiful? Spectacular? Yes,
to all three! Sleep comes easy, of course, and maybe my dreams are full of Van
Gogh. Maybe.
Shooting stars, meteor showers are all free for the taking.
They are still happening tonight. I will watch again in my own backyard
thinking about my sons’ birthdays and days of yore. In the meantime, go outside
with your chair and your blanket, and don’t forget to “catch a falling star and
put it in your pocket.”
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