Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for December 18, 2022

I watch the sky a lot all year but where I live the light pollution and weather condition are such that I’m lucky if I see three every few months.

Seen one, seen them all.

Janis knows how statistics work.

We moved to an unofficial dark sky area several years ago. I was so excited that now, I’d really be able to see all the astronomical events I kept missing at our previous home. Except now, every time there’s something like this going on, it’s so overcast, we can’t see anything anyway. We’ve had a handful of clear nights since we moved out here. It sucks.

Eldest daughter used to live where there was little or no light pollution, so we all trekked up to her place one evening. We spread blankets in the cul de sac, and the entire crew spread out to watch the show. Dark and the inside of Shen Wai’s boot, and quiet except for crickets.

Suddenly, something HUGE and dark landed in the middle of our group.

The neighbor’s dog scared us all out of several years’ growth!

I live in the Midwest, otherwise known as Cloud Central. That (and the fact that I can no longer stay awake past midnight) gives me precious little chance of seeing the showers.

Managed to do that once. Magical!

I remember the first meteor I ever saw. I was about 5 or 6 and was with my dad and we were night fishing for catfish when I saw it. After pointing it out to him, I asked what it was and he explained it to me. I hope I never forget that experience.

I’m starting to think like Janis. I’ve been out and seen them like Arlo said, but the last few years it’s been almost bupcus. Absolutely nothing the last time. Didn’t even go out this December.

Always happens, meteor showers, eclipses, and such always happen during cold weather around me.

Saw a lunar eclipse while at a Yes outdoor concert years ago. That is hard to top.

That is so Janis! That is so Arlo!

Arlo, put the binoculars away. Better with your eyes only!

Seen zip, c’mon, let ’er rip…

Best thing to do isn’t to watch them, but to kiss someone special while it is going on.

“that one’s pulling a banner! ‘Cricket Mobile is now only $25 a month!’ How does Ryan Reynolds pull that off!?”

Janis looks like she’s having a BOWL of hot chocolate!

It’s kinda unfortunate for gaining astronomy fans that the best viewing is when it’s cold and clear.

When I lived in areas which were really dark (Arizona, the Middle East), meteor showers were spectacular. Now I’m too lazy to get up at the wee hours typically needed to view them.

?

I won’t go out to watch meteor showers, even if I know when they are. I read “Day of the Triffids” a long time ago. That cured me of any desire to watch things in the night sky.

That presumes one can even see the night sky above the cloud deck.

We lived a quarter mile from US 29. My father worked shift work and caught a bus to and from the paper mill. We walked down to the crossroads with him when he was on graveyard shift. We watched the stars and the meteors both ways, going and coming.

Enjoyable.

I remember in 2008 as our C-17 descended into Afghanistan at about 2AM with all (air and ground) lights out, our crew was wearing NVGs and I was sitting behind the Copilot as right scanner. It was a very dark night with no moon and the sky was filled with many bright stars enhanced by the NVGs. As we continued our descent to Bagram Air Base, I noticed that every few seconds there were bright streaks flashing across the sky. I realized they were the result of the Perseid meteor shower. It was beautiful, but not what I was scanning for, I returned to the task at hand. :-)

Janis is on point here. Fool me once (2x, 3 x, 4×...) with articles saying it will be a great meteor show this year. No more!

120 meteors an hour is still only one every thirty seconds. Which can be a looong time if you’re cold and miserable…

Is that a pot that Arlo wears on his head?

I agree with Janis, Inside where it is warm, with hot cocoa, a fuzzy blanket, and a cat or two.

Yeah, never really got that. 120 meteors an hour is 1 every half a minute, and they’re not like in the movies, just itty-bitty momentary streaks, blink and you miss them.

Arlo is to Geminids as Linus is to Great Pumpkin…

too bad it’s overcast … all month