Sunny, 70 degrees one day, snowy 40 degrees the next, then the wind and dust, snow, sun, wind, sun, clouds, rain, sun, sun and rain at the same time... Ahhh, springtime in New Mexico.
I am so ready for the spring and summer, maybe it is just me but this seems like a very long winter and I want the nice cool (but not cold) evenings with no wind and nice dark skies that make this such a great place to live and to be an back yard astronomer. I think I am having some telescope withdrawals; I need a nice evening of observing with a good list of objects both seen and unseen, globular clusters, nebula, galaxies, planets, open clusters and even some double stars.
My eyes have been bothering me a little the last few weeks, dry and itchy (from allergies, I think) I think they are in need of some medicine, I put in some eye drops, I rub, I wash I try different things and none of it is working. The medicine I need will not come in a little bottle that dispenses a drop at a time, it will come in a telescope with a nice eyepiece that focuses that magnificent light from distant wonders directly into my retina, stirring up the excitement, imagination and amazement of the universe again, I miss it.
The medicine I am prescribing for my tired eyes, is photons, lots of photons from distant far off places traveling years, decades, centuries and even millennia, passing through our atmosphere down a dark tube, bouncing off a mirror then off another mirror through an eyepiece and "SMACK" (oops I blinked) then looked again and there it is the medicine I have been waiting for, far better and more soothing than those few drops I picked up at Walgreens.
Think about it, what those photons have been through on their way to curing my soar deprived eyes. All the other stars they passed, all the galaxies they may have seen, planets, clusters, nebula, comets, asteroids and I am sure even several pairs of alien eyes looking through alien telescopes up into their known universe. Did they blink, where their eyes tired and soar waiting for the photons, are they sitting somewhere wondering if we exist and where we exist...?
So what is on your mind?
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Predictably, Unpredictable…
Well, if you have lived in NM for any amount of time you have heard the saying “If you do not like the weather, wait a few moments.”
If spring time in New Mexico is anything it is unpredictable, it changes not only daily but, I have seen it change by the minute (ok maybe 10 minutes) but suddenly. I was very much looking forward to the Spring Equinox Open House and Picnic yesterday and was not too worried about the weather reports, because it is New Mexico and things change fast, so I was hoping it would all just blow by. Imagine how surprised I was to wake up and see a post on Becky R. blog welcoming spring with several inches of new snow and then hearing posts of up to 10 inches of the white stuff in the surrounding communities.
I continued to monitor the emails and was not surprised when I heard that the Open House and Picnic was going to be cancelled and rescheduled, I was a little disappointed but it was good to know early so I could figure out what to do with the rest of my day. It was a little more disappointing to watch the skies clear as the day went on knowing that we would not be gathering at GNTO later under the nice clear skies that developed as dark approached.
I want to thank the GNTO committee for their efforts in preparing for this event and I know they will do just fine in rescheduling it and we will all be able to gather to chat, eat, observe and just have fun soon. I want to thank them for their decision to cancel the event early and to see that the word got out to folks; I know it was not an easy decision but it was the smart decision and we will make it up soon. We are fairly sure there was snow on the ground at GNTO, it may have melted by the time the picnic started but it leaves behind lots of potential problems once it melts so it is better that we are all safe and warm and we will be all the more ready for our the re-scheduled picnic coming soon.
So until next time, observe and enjoy when you can and keep in mind we will have many more opportunities to get together over the remainder of the year.
If spring time in New Mexico is anything it is unpredictable, it changes not only daily but, I have seen it change by the minute (ok maybe 10 minutes) but suddenly. I was very much looking forward to the Spring Equinox Open House and Picnic yesterday and was not too worried about the weather reports, because it is New Mexico and things change fast, so I was hoping it would all just blow by. Imagine how surprised I was to wake up and see a post on Becky R. blog welcoming spring with several inches of new snow and then hearing posts of up to 10 inches of the white stuff in the surrounding communities.
I continued to monitor the emails and was not surprised when I heard that the Open House and Picnic was going to be cancelled and rescheduled, I was a little disappointed but it was good to know early so I could figure out what to do with the rest of my day. It was a little more disappointing to watch the skies clear as the day went on knowing that we would not be gathering at GNTO later under the nice clear skies that developed as dark approached.
I want to thank the GNTO committee for their efforts in preparing for this event and I know they will do just fine in rescheduling it and we will all be able to gather to chat, eat, observe and just have fun soon. I want to thank them for their decision to cancel the event early and to see that the word got out to folks; I know it was not an easy decision but it was the smart decision and we will make it up soon. We are fairly sure there was snow on the ground at GNTO, it may have melted by the time the picnic started but it leaves behind lots of potential problems once it melts so it is better that we are all safe and warm and we will be all the more ready for our the re-scheduled picnic coming soon.
So until next time, observe and enjoy when you can and keep in mind we will have many more opportunities to get together over the remainder of the year.
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