Pacific Nights

There wasa little short radio thing out of the University of Miami (Star Gazers) and its host, a fella named Jack Horkheimer (died in 2010), talked about what stars are up and  showing on any particularly night.  With the triangle of planets, harvest moon, and for some the northern lights a couple nights running, there are endless things to watch...although we have been partly clouded over 2 nights straight so I have to read about things and catch pictures on the computer ... but that isn't the real deal.

25 years or so ago I lived in Santa Monica for a couple of years.  My apartment was only a few blocks from the Pacific and there was an active astronomy society that trudged down to the ocean, under the Pacific Highway overlook bluffs and outside the light glare of downtown. We could only look west out over the water but that was quite enough.  I bought a telescope at Best Buy and went frequently to these events..partly because of the interest (intense) at looking up at the sky with even a small telescope and a relativity (sorry Einstein) narrow range of knowledge was amazing.

There was a couple from the area who used to drag a huge homemade scope down to the beach along with their 2-3-4-5 kids...who knew!...and the kids would go into sleeping bags (summer - no school) and mom and dad used to watch and when they found something that was a 'wow' they would wake them up for a glimpse.  That may sound like being a bad parent but it was being great...the kids may not have remembered the galaxy but they remember the beach and the stars.

Here is the music to the astronomy program I mentioned earlier...that's what started this stream of remembrance.

Stars do that to you.