Last night E, T, and J and I (B fell asleep) stayed up, walked out into the meadow behind our home by flashlight, then stood there and watched meteors of the annual Perseid shower -- we knew it was a bright one when a few of us sucked in our breath at the same time.
The Perseid Meteor Shower is an annual event; last year we were clouded over and the main part of the shower was in the middle of the night. Last night the most active time was just around 10 PM, so it wasn't too difficult to allow the kids to stay up a little later than usual in order to watch a few bright streaks across the sky. One of the benefits to living in a small town far away from the city lights is that meteor showers show up quite nicely.
So standing together in the middle of the meadow, arms over each other's shoulders, we watched for meteors, for that streak of light across a corner of a constellation as we identified the Big Dipper, Orion, and a few other common groupings in the summer sky. The evening was mild for the mountains; I wore a light cardigan but the boys and E were in t-shirts and the boys in shorts.
The peace of the evening was amazing. The beauty of the Milky Way stretching over our heads, the quiet that comes as eyes search the skies for meteors, the soft breeze that moved over us and past us, the giggles as we pick our way through the sage brush back home ... those are the memories I took away from the meteor watch in the meadow. last night was a memory-maker for me, and I hope it was for our kids as well.
1 comment:
This is so awesome Susanne! Did you read about our disappointing attempt to watch the meteor shower? It's on my blog, in a post titled "The good, the bad, the ugly". Your experience was what I was aiming for!! Oh well, maybe next year. So glad it was a memory maker for you!
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