Shooting stars

(Graphic courtesy of KCRG TV, Cedar Rapids)

It was a hot summer night and the beach was burning
There was fog crawling over the sand
When I listen to your heart I hear the whole world turning
I see the shooting stars
Falling through your trembling hands
“You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth,” Meatloaf

Substitute “hay field” for “beach” and that’s pretty much how my morning started. I got up at 4:30 a.m. to catch the Perseid meteor shower. It peaks in the pre-dawn hours tomorrow, Aug. 13, but tomorrow’s forecast is for clouds and rain, so I thought I’d go meteor watching this morning. It’s something I do every summer and I had high hopes for this year since the moon phase was dark, providing great spotting conditions.

It was 72 degrees at 4:30 (which is just wrong . . . but getting up at 4:30 a.m. is just wrong, too) and there was a layer of ground fog but the sky overhead was dark and clear. The Belgians and I walked out to the hay field north of the house and climbed up on a hay rack the Farmer had conveniently parked there.

Jamie snuggled up next to me and went to sleep but Phoenix was on level red critter alert and kept patrolling the hay rack perimeter. I’m sure there were raccoons running amuck nearby even though I couldn’t see them. Thought I smelled a skunk once and was really glad the dogs were on leash. Getting to go on an adventure in the middle of the night is a big treat for them but I would prefer they not turn it into a hunting expedition.

I love watching meteors. I’m one of those people who likes to wish on “shooting stars” and always feel like I’ve witnessed something special that no one else in the world knows about when I see one. Suppose I have, since most sane people are still sound asleep at that time.

I like the Perseids because you won’t freeze to death watching them, like some of the other showers. I’ve gone out for the Leonids (November) and Geminids (December) and by comparison, the Perseids are definitely the most user friendly. The Draconids and Orionids in October can be fun, too, although they’re kind of “low producers” and if I’m going to get up in the middle of the night and sit outside in the dark, I need frequent reinforcement.

The Perseid meteors are most visible right before dawn. I saw probably half a dozen, including a couple of beautiful “skimmers” that burned low and bright along the horizon. At the shower’s peak, you can see up to 100 meteors in an hour, or so they say. I didn’t get to find out because just when things were starting to pick up, the fog started to roll in. Pretty soon the horizon was blanketed with fog and my window of clear sky above was growing smaller and smaller.

Bummer. The mosquitos had found me, Phoenix was getting a little too interested in something rustling in the fence line and I could smell a skunk again so we walked through the fog and heat and humidity back to the house.

Okay, that Meatloaf song is supposedly about a couple of teenagers making out on a beach, not a middle-aged woman sitting on a hay rack, watching meteors with her dogs but what the heck. Life’s short. Be happy.