Seeing stars

Mild temperatures but still no sunshine so far today. Looking forward to some porch weather.

I read that there is supposed to be a very bright comet visit this year. I hope it is at least as good as was the Hale-Bopp comet in the late 1990′s. It was low on the horizon in the estern sky at dawn until it swung around the sun and then was low in the western evening sky for several weeks. On many clear evenings at dusk I would drive off and stay gone for a few hours—Carolyn thought I was whoring or bar-hopping. Actually I was alone and headed for a hilltop well away from city light pollution where I could see nearly all the night sky. I don’t amaze easily but Hale-Bopp very much stirred my imagination. For me there is a mystic, celestial magic associated with night skies. I loved laying in my truck bed on summer evenings as the comet and shooting stars passed overhead. The beauty and mystery of constellation Sagittarius with the core of our great galaxy hidden within the dust of the Milky Way’s spiral arm; the Big Dipper in the north, red star Antares toward the south, greenish appearing Arcturus nearly overhead; all there to fire my sense of wonder and help me to set my place in the cosmos.
All of Nature contains astounding beauty but none so grand as the night sky.

Have a sublime Thursday!