But now it has cleared! The brief front gone, I see Scorpio stalking the southern horizon .. the stars of summer pushing themselves up above the eastern rim of the world .. I halt my return, divert into my behind-the-barn laboratory 'Menlow Park', and in 30 seconds my small short field refractor is deployed. A wall of clouds can be seen slowly spreading from the North, but I spend the next 10 minutes viewing the unexpected starfields. Saturn swims into view.. Antares.. I view stars, not just clusters and galaxies. How many amateurs just look at famous stars? Probably none I muse, except me. We look at forests, but ignore the trees sometimes.
Im cold now, I hadnt planned on an outdoor adventure, the coffee awaits, yet I managed in less than an hour to recharge my planetarium batteries, I got my observing fix, and its only 5 AM. Time to make another pot...