Day 4157

I'm posting early today. I've finally realized that there is no point in trying to write something at 2 AM after a long night of starwatching. I am usually incoherent at that time of day. It might be better to start writing during the day anyway. Years and years of posting something at the very end of every day have deprived me of a lot of sleep. 

So far the day has been interesting. I woke up this morning surrounded by a heavy fog. When I looked out my window at the Astronomer's Lodge the whole world was grey. I couldn't see the telescopes or the visitor's center in the valley below. It was cold too. The temperature was around 50 degrees for most of the morning.

After breakfast I put on some warm clothes and took a walk around the mountain. There is a road that circles the top of Mount Locke providing access the Astronomer's Lodge and some of the smaller telescopes. The road is not as long as I thought. I had to circle the mountain five times in order to walk two miles. It seemed like I walked longer than this because of some steep slopes and the high altitude. The top of Mount Locke is the tallest mountain in Texas accessible by road.

I met the guy from Planewave Instruments who will be conducting the workshop with my friend from the observatory. This is probably as close as I will ever get to a Planewave telescope. They sell mostly to universities and smaller professional observatories. Their telescopes start at about $20,000 and go up to over $500,000. A little rich for my blood. The Planewave guy isn't here to sell us a telescope though. He is here to teach us how to use PixInsight, the software program that I had so much trouble installing on my laptop. The first time I opened this software it seemed incomprehensible to me. I hope I learn something in the next few days. So far, it's all Greek to me.

The fog is already starting to lift and according to the latest weather forecast it should be clear tonight. I'm glad I brought my warmest winter coats with me. I have a feeling that I"m going to need them. When I was here last March, the temperature got down in the mid-30's at night. By the time we were through with our photography session, I was frozen. I've learned to be a little better prepared on subsequent trips. With any luck, I should be warm enough tonight.

Later this afternoon I'm going to assemble my star tracker so it will be ready for this evening. I'm really beginning to wonder why I bought this thing. It's heavy and a royal pain to put together. Also I have to kneel down and look through a small scope built into the tracker in order to line everything up correctly with Polaris. This was made for younger knees. When I'm down, it's hard to get up again. I"m going to regret not going to REI and getting a collapsible walking stick. I'm also going to regret not bringing a small folding chair with me. I hope to learn a lot about astrophotography at this workshop, but I may just learn that I'm getting too old for this.

Have I mentioned how good the food is at the Astronomer's Lodge? I always gain a few pounds while I'm here. Maybe I'm weird, but this is my idea of a nice vacation. The food is great. The place is quiet and peaceful. Quiet might actually be an understatement. It is dead silent out here. When I took my walk in the fog this morning, I heard nothing at all. There is no traffic noise, no airplanes, no police sirens, and no yard crews with their irritating leaf blowers. I didn't even hear any birds this morning. 

The fog continues to lift and I'm starting to see some blue sky now. Things are looking up.

Dixie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4115

The star tracker I ordered arrived today. I looked at the instruction manual just long enough to realize that it's going to take me a while to learn to use this thing. I've got a month or so to master assembling and operating the tracker in complete darkness. This is not easy. When I was out at McDonald Observatory last October, even setting camera exposures in the dark was a chore. I spent a lot of time looking for little things I dropped on the ground. It was way too easy to throw off your polar alignment by bumping the tripod in the dark or spoiling the focus that took you forever to get just right by accidently touching the lens. Astrophotography is not an avocation for the clumsy. Unfortunately I am very clumsy. We'll see if I can be more careful this time. The last time I was on the mountain, I almost fell in a hole and broke my leg.

Maybe I ought to stick to photographing dogs. I'm pretty good at photographing dogs. Getting a good picture of the Andromeda Galaxy or the Orion Nebula is much harder for me. The night sky is interesting though and there are very few things that interest me anymore. Hey, if other people can do this, I should be able to take good night sky pictures as well. I'll figure out this star tracker in the weeks ahead and I bet my photos will be a lot better this time than they were last October.

I resumed my long walks today. It was very windy which made it almost impossible to dress for the occasion. When I was near the shoreline and the wind was blowing in my face I was cold. When I was out in the meadows and away from the water I was hot. I don't know where the ducks were today. I saw very few. Pretty soon the pelicans will fly North for the summer. There are already a lot fewer of them at the lake. Another week of two of warm weather and they'll be gone.

I see a few new wildflowers blooming every day now. It's interesting that the blue and purple flowers bloom first. Then the yellow flowers start blooming. The red flowers are almost always last. In April and May you see all the flowers at once and then they slowly start to disappear. It's not as much fun to photograph these flowers anymore because I've already captured every variety that grows here many times. April used to be a time for photography. Now it's mostly a time where I don't need to wear a coat and I don't get sunburned either. 

I was going to go looking for an Easter ham today but I forgot. I need to do this tomorrow. I've learned to ask for a Chop at the smokehouse. This is a small boneless cut that the store uses to make ham sandwiches for customers. A regular ham is way too much for two people and this small size is perfect. If you vacuum seal the meat in a boil-in bag you can keep it nice and juicy by just heating it in boiling water instead of putting it in the oven. Did I mention that I love a good smoked ham?

It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be April 1. It's getting harder and harder to separate the April Fool's jokes from reality. Life is so strange now that I'm having a difficult time telling the difference. The fact that Covid is still with us after an entire year seems like a cruel joke, but I guess it's real. I don't need any more big surprises. I'm waiting for life to become simple and predictable again. That wish is probably an April Fool's joke. I don't think that life will ever be simple and predictable again.

Smiley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day