rain will be coming

 We will be getting significant rainfall in about 7 days

    More specifically, Aug. 11 and 12.

    Both nights will be stormy.  Clouds will be so thick, you won't even be able to see an occaisional star.

    How do I know this?

    Well, Aug. 11 and 12 are peak viewing nights for the Perseid meteor showers.  On those nights you should be able to see up to 60 meteors an hour.  It will be a great night to watch.  Great for everyone not living close to me.

    I seem to have a knack for not being able to see  sky events..  Lunar eclipses, red moons, meteor showers, whatever, it is cloudy and rainy when the peak viewing times are.  At least for me.

    There was one time in my life when I saw them.  

    We took a family vacation to Vermont to go to a picnic.  This must have been in the early to mid 80s. 

    We were camping in the White Mountains at a beautiful little campground.  Yes, camping.  My family.  First and only family camping trip.

    We were sitting around the fire when Jackie announced she was going to bed.  I think it was about 8:30.  The girls followed.  That left me sitting at the camp fire.  But I was not alone.  Some guy from Boston wandered over to say hello because his wife and kids had also gone to bed.

    We sat around the campfire talking about all sorts of things that don't matter now, when we noticed a shooting star.  And another.  And another.

    We stopped talking and just sat and watched as meteor after meteor flashed across the sky.

    The only light in the little campground was my fire.  As it died down, the pace of meteors seemed to pick up.  

    It was magical.

    I don't know how long the two of us sat there, but I remember we were in awe.

    Ever since then I have looked to the skies in August.  Sometimes, not often, I get to see some, but not as many as that night on a mountain in Veremont.

    I often wish I was someplace where there were no city lights to hide the night sky.  I often think of going north to a cabin on Lake Superior during the Perseids and just sit on the shore and watch.

    With my luck, it will probably rain there too.

    So, keep one eye on the sky and the other on the weather next week.  

    You, too, can be amazed.

Peace an Love