Star Gazing
Through a happy conjunction of events (acquiring the task of dog walking, a news story and an assignment for Sam on Greek mythology) I now spend an hour nearly every evening alternating between staring in people's homes and developing a permanent crick in my neck staring at the stars and planets.
Staring in people's homes is an old habit and really has nothing to do with this blog. Except that it amazes me how many people leave their windows unshaded while they lounge around the house in their skivvies being bums and watching tv. Unlike me who is out diligently exercising the dog. It also amazes me how neat their houses are. Which is perhaps why they leave their shades up and lights on. Show offs!
But back to the planets.
It all started when I was walking the dog and saw a star near the eastern horizon that was so red, I thought "It could be Mars. Nah." But on arriving home I was looking though "all the terrible things that happened today" on MSNBC and, sure enough, there was an article about how Mars was rising in our night sky. Soon after that was an article about how Venus and Jupiter were in close conjunction. As I walked the dog, I could see them close together on the western horizon.
And as I have walked each night, when I am not resenting the housekeeping habits of the folks in my town, I have watched the march of the planets through the stars. Independent of the stars steady movement through the sky, Mars has been moving westward, as Venus leaves Jupiter and walks toward Mars (the slut.)
I study the stars and realize, I don't know most of them. I have an app for that, but it changes direction slowly and I get a bit lost as I try to move it around and account for the 360 degree horizon.
The app also will juxtapose the animals and people as the Greeks imagined them against the constellation and I realized another thing. Those Greeks were taking some pretty powerful drugs to see those things in the stars. Really? You take a few stars and can see a man with a sword. If they were alive today we would 302 those folks.
I am imagining a quilt as I watch the stars and planets, along with the waxing moon. I love the way the clouds scud across the sky and make halos of light around Venus. I would love to have it hung as a circle from above. Now I just need imagination for inspiration. Maybe some drugs would help.
Staring in people's homes is an old habit and really has nothing to do with this blog. Except that it amazes me how many people leave their windows unshaded while they lounge around the house in their skivvies being bums and watching tv. Unlike me who is out diligently exercising the dog. It also amazes me how neat their houses are. Which is perhaps why they leave their shades up and lights on. Show offs!
But back to the planets.
It all started when I was walking the dog and saw a star near the eastern horizon that was so red, I thought "It could be Mars. Nah." But on arriving home I was looking though "all the terrible things that happened today" on MSNBC and, sure enough, there was an article about how Mars was rising in our night sky. Soon after that was an article about how Venus and Jupiter were in close conjunction. As I walked the dog, I could see them close together on the western horizon.
And as I have walked each night, when I am not resenting the housekeeping habits of the folks in my town, I have watched the march of the planets through the stars. Independent of the stars steady movement through the sky, Mars has been moving westward, as Venus leaves Jupiter and walks toward Mars (the slut.)
I study the stars and realize, I don't know most of them. I have an app for that, but it changes direction slowly and I get a bit lost as I try to move it around and account for the 360 degree horizon.
The app also will juxtapose the animals and people as the Greeks imagined them against the constellation and I realized another thing. Those Greeks were taking some pretty powerful drugs to see those things in the stars. Really? You take a few stars and can see a man with a sword. If they were alive today we would 302 those folks.
I am imagining a quilt as I watch the stars and planets, along with the waxing moon. I love the way the clouds scud across the sky and make halos of light around Venus. I would love to have it hung as a circle from above. Now I just need imagination for inspiration. Maybe some drugs would help.
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