Catch a Falling Star...

 

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.”