Day 112 ~ Constellation Prize

Apr 22, 2014     

My first:  I prepared to witness the Lyrid meteor showers on April 22, 2014 at 3:00 in the morning.

The alarm on my phone was set for 2:45 a.m. I awoke intermittently before the set time fearing that I wouldn’t hear it go off. When the bugle sounded, I was up! I got the camera, tripod and myself in the car and left the neighborhood for darker pastures.

I drove and I drove. I found a short blocked off driveway hidden behind brush that I backed my car into. I was busy getting settled in my star gazing spot when an uneasiness came over me. I felt alone in the gloom. I was out of there!

After more roaming around the countryside, I noticed a road off highway 159 and turned around to take that route. Omg! It had potholes all over like a minefield. I strategically maneuvered my 15 year old Honda to miss most of them without breaking an axle. The road veered around a farmhouse and then trailed off into a field. Then it stopped…right in the middle of this field. I had to turn my car around in case I had to make a quick getaway.

I soon discovered that bringing my camera was pointless. So I just lay on the hood of my car waiting for the show to begin…and waiting. A cool wind blew all around me as my mind mused more than usual. And I waited. Then there it was! Not the meteor shower I had anticipated but a single shooting star…straight above me. My first thought was “Thanks, Dad”. It was two years that my dad had passed away. I’m sure he had arranged for my star!

The night’s morning surrounded me as I continued to gaze upward hoping for more of a show. I was disappointed that this scheduled meteor “shower” shrunk down to a mere “raindrop”. But in the same breath, I was thrilled with my little shooting star. Perhaps it was even more special as a symbol of Dad’s still being in my life.

I drove out of this desolate field, pass the farmhouse and through the pothole “minefield”. After I turned onto Ross Lane heading to my house, I saw some deer getting ready to cross the road right in front of me. I stopped as they sauntered across to the grassy field on the other side. They stood there, all four of them, looking at me as if they were posing and waiting for me to get my camera out. So I did! I may not have gotten the star spectacle I wanted earlier, but these guys were my constellation prize.