It was a dark and stormy night...really...
It was a dark and stormy night...
Before we get to the good stuff, just wanted to ask: has anybody managed to spot the comet which is supposed to have been visible in the early morning...and early in the night...sky?
From what I understand, the comet is called something like C/2020 F3 NEOWISE*. That seems kind of odd to me. Think about it. In the very same year, we have a comet flying around in the sky called C/2020 F3 NEOWISE and a pandemic flying around the world called COVID-19. I think this may be a little bit more than coincidental. Oops. Sorry about that. Deep State silliness.
At the time I started writing this last Friday morning, yours truly had not been able to see comet COVID-19.
Supposedly, the best chance to see the comet during the first half of July was during the early morning hours. As in two hours before sunrise...in the northeastern sky.
Well, your writer is not a morning person, so the chance of seeing anything in any sky anywhere at any time before sunrise was pretty slim.
During the past week, the comet was supposed to be visible just after sunset. I ventured into the heat and humidity of a Southern Illinois summer evening one day last week to attempt what turned out to be a fruitless search for the comet.
Went back out last Sunday evening. The heat and the humidity were still there. Along with an occasional cool breeze.
Saw a couple of bats flitting around in final light of the day. Did not see a comet. Did see the Big Dipper, which is pretty easy to spot. And I’m pretty sure there was lightning flashing in the sky...off to the north...
...and that brings us...
...back to where we started...
...as in...it was a dark and stormy night...
...really...it was...
...which meant that it was a perfect time to head out to the front porch to see what might happen.
So, I scooped up Bob and the two of us went out to watch what Mother Nature might have to offer.
Turned out that we got to see quite a light show during the night time hours on the 15th day of July. The display brought to mind what happens when a fluorescent light starts to go out...non-stop flickering...
Somehow, I actually managed to sort of get a photograph of Mother Nature’s light show on a dark and stormy night. Lots of much better photographers have much better luck getting a shot of lightning flashing through the sky...
...which brings us back to the comet...
...seems that a fair number of photographers have managed to get some pretty good pics of the comet which is “supposed” to flying around in the sky overhead. You can probably find some of them on the internet.
In the meantime, I’ll be making plans to try to see the comet the next time in comes around...in about 6,700 years. Who knows...maybe the pandemic will be over by then...
...we’re going to finish up this week with a little bit of laughter (I hope) which was discovered on worstjokesever.com...and seemed quite appropriate for this week...
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decide to go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and go to sleep.
Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
“Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”
Watson replied, “I see millions of stars.”
“What does that tell you?”
Watson pondered for a minute.
“Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.” “Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.” “Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.” “Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant.” “Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.” “What does it tell you, Holmes?”
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke: “Watson, you idiot. Someone has stolen our tent!”
(*As is often the case, your intrepid scribe found this information on the internet. As we often say in this space...if it’s on the internet, it has to be true.)
Stay safe.