Day 4508

I got up early this morning and watched the milky way core rise in the East before dawn. The morning sky is actually more interesting than the evening sky at this time of year. It's pretty dark at 5 AM, but it's late enough so you can still get some sleep. I was able to see Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn all lined up in a nice row, and as the sky started to lighten a very thin crescent moon followed behind them. I didn't try to use the star tracker this morning because the sky was getting lighter instead of darker. I've been having so much trouble with this thing that I knew the sun would probably be up before I could get the tracker working  properly

It was an enjoyable day. I didn't really do much but doing a whole lot of nothing is my kind of day. I walked a few miles before eating a leisurely breakfast and then walked a little more. I'm glad I brought some shorts with me because it was surprisingly warm today. By mid-atenoon the temperature was almost ninety degrees. When it got too hot outside I went to my room and learned a little more about Messier 3, the globular cluster I am supposed to show star party visitors during the festival. I also tried to make sense of the vague star tracker instructions.

An astronomer friend loaned me a tripod to use while I'm here, so I was able to test the star tracker after all. I spent a couple of hours this evening putting the tracker through its paces with decidedly mixed results. When it worked, the tracker was quite impressive. The problem is that it disconnects from the camera at random intervals. This is the problem I've been having since I received the tracker several months ago. I still don't know whether the problem originates in my camera, the Polaris tracker, or the app on my iPhone that controls everything. I did get a few decent pictures tonight, but until the software improves I doubt that I'll be using this thing very much.

It is so quiet up here. It is amazing to take a walk and hear absolutely nothing except for the wind blowing softly through the trees. You hear bird sounds very early in the morning, but they are quiet later in the day. Occasionally you will hear a car off in the distance in the valley below, but not very often. I like the peaceful isolation of this place. If you actually lived here it might get old quickly, but for a few days at a time it is very peaceful. There are no radios or televisions at the Astronomer's Lodge. If you really insist on keeping up with what is going on in the world, there's always Google News on your computer. We do have a good WiFi connection.

I don't know if I'm going to get up early again tomorrow morning. It's hard to get any sleep when you go to bed late and the turn around and get up early. I usually get to bed really late after star parties because I've still got to write the blog after the star party is over. I guess I could sleep during the day like the astronomers do but that is an acquired skill. My body clock is still set to night time sleeping. We'll see how it goes tomorrow with my first real work day. So far, my stay on the mountain has been very enjoyable.

Parker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4491

Today was very busy. At least it was busy for me. After the usual sunrise walk with Dawn and my weekday breakfast of shredded wheat and berries, I finished my article for SpaceFlight Magazine. I also sorted through over a thousand pictures to find a selection to send to the magazine to accompany the article. I was fairly pleased with the results. The pictures looked great and I was able to write something to the magazine's requested length. One more article about life on the space coast is complete.

It looks like I'll be going out to Mcdonald Observatory after all. I finally got a confirmation of my reservation at the Astronomers Lodge today and after a bit of soul searching, I decided that I really should go out and volunteer again. Sure, I've got a lot of aches and pains and it definitely is a long drive, but it's only going to be worse next year. I tire easily and my feet hurt, but I'm still healthy. Who knows how long this will last. I guess I feel the same way about my trips to the observatory as I do about my daily walks. To stay at your best mentally and physically, you've got to keep moving. I can do this.

If inflationary pressures continue to get worse, the limiting factor for my travels might end up being the expense. My stay at the Astronomers Lodge will be more expensive this year. Their prices went up almost the same amount as my hotel in Titusville. I don't even want to think about what the rent car is going to cost. The price of rental cars has gotten ridiculous. For the moment I can justify the expense. I'd rather spend the money doing something I enjoy than watch it disappear in some future stock market crash.

Since today was Monday, Janet and I went up to the kennel and visited the rescue Dalmatians again. Visiting the dogs takes a lot longer now since there are so many of them. I had thought that some of the new dogs would have gotten adopted by now, but they are all still there. Everyone was in good spirits. Rocket is still scared, but his skin condition is getting better. Dorothy is going to take the crown away from Charlie as the kennel's resident wild child. She has so much energy and really loves to play. I think she would do great at agility. Jo Jo has become the group's gentle giant. He's big and strong, but is extremely well behaved. Willie and Julip and both tiny and very sweet. They both love attention and like being petted. Candy still needs to learn some manners, but she is very young and has received absolutely no training or socialization. We are working on this. I think we've almost taught her to sit. Oliver is still a goofy clown and Charlie is still the most fun to play with. Despite his many issues, Charlie is the smartest dog at the kennel. 

We had fun with the dogs today but it didn't leave me with a lot of time to walk when we got home. For a while I though we'd get rain this afternoon, but all we got was a lot of wind. I did manage to get in a short walk before dinner time and ended up completing about three miles. I doubt if I could have walked much further even if I had all day. My feet still hurt.

I seldom say anything about the watches, but today's watch used to belong to Alice Cooper. At least that's what I was told.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day