Shooting Stars and Squirrels
Wait… let me clarify… no guns involved here. This is just a random post incorporating nearly unrelated topics. Guess that title could be miss-leading… so allow me to clarify.
Did anybody else see the shooting stars last night (12/14/2023 around 9:30 PM Eastern)? It was a pretty awesome show… especially since I was not expecting it. I have been trying to catch a good meteor shower all year and have been disappointed as a result of weather or timing with just about every opportunity.
So, I headed out last night as I am trying to do most nights… just to get in a good walk to try and get in better shape. It was cold… but not bad. But I was immediately drawn to how clear the sky was… and the fact the stars were quite visible even in town since there was no moon. I guess that got me looking up a bit more right off. Then as I got into the park at the end of the street… I was heading North and saw a streak across the sky just below the bill of my hat. It was pretty bright so I considered myself lucky to have seen it because I could have easily been looking down and missed it. I was maybe 10 minutes into my walk.
I didn’t think too much more about it and about ten minutes later I had gone around the end of the park and was headed back South. This time I saw one over closer to the Southern Horizon… but it had originated overhead somewhere. Within two to three minutes I saw another follow almost the same path. At that point I cleaned my glasses to make sure I was not seeing things. But these were very bright… fairly long lasting… so I was trusting my eyes and getting curious what was up?
The park was fairly dark… but I was headed out of it and back onto the streets where there were more street lights and porch lights. I was worried they would keep me from seeing more… until another solid streak appeared higher in the sky again… streaking East to West… across maybe a third of the sky. Now I was getting excited… but got near a school with even more lights. Then I turned and headed back West along a street with a lot of mature trees and houses with Christmas lights. But I still saw a couple more. When I hit the other side of town I turned North and was on a darker street with a pretty clear view North and East. While on this stretch I saw several more.
I almost saw extra stars a couple times because I was now looking up… and not paying as much attention to where I was going. The streaks were primarily East to West… but some headed Southwest… while others headed Northwest… then one looked like it headed straight down. A few left a light trail of fragments as they progressed across the sky. One seemed to fragment at the end like the fireworks on Independence Day. I turned and headed back East and continued to see them ahead or to my right.
Then turned back South toward home and still saw more. My walk was about 90 minutes… and I counted 13 solid streaks. I am sure I saw more out of the corner of my eye and through trees/lights where it was harder to see clearly… but I did not count them unless it was very clear. I considered driving out where there was less light pollution… and laying on the hood or bed of the truck for a while. But it was getting late.
I got up this morning and had to work… but was at least working from home. I was still pretty geeked about the show last night. But then began to be entertained from a very different source. I think the squirrels were having a turf war on my roof!?! It is not unusual to hear them scamper across the roof to get from the tree line on one side of the yard to the other. But the activity today was excessive. Do you believe celestial events (like full moons or meteor showers) can affect animal behavior? If so… watch out today. Cause if the people are acting up like the squirrels… it could be an interesting day/weekend!
Anybody want to use the excuse? Bet we could come up with something fun and exciting if we put our heads together?!? Besides… it’s my Birthday!!!