Monday, October 29, 2007

Comets and Cookie Monsters

And yet another unbelievably unproductive weekend. The only errand we had was to go grocery shopping, which took less than 90 minutes. So how, please, did we accomplish nothing off The List this weekend? Not even fiddling the front door so that I can lock it without hurting myself, or moving the houseplants? Don't even bring up the fact that you can't get into our closet at all, or the couple of things I need to return, or the aquarium that needs cleaning. We managed to do diddly squat this weekend.

We did go out to the in-laws' yesterday, for a birthday dinner (my birthday, plus a brother-in-law's). We took El Burrito's Halloween costume and he got to wear it around a bit. I wish I'd gotten the camera out first, because he was trotting around with the biggest grin on his face. He's apparently very proud of his Cookie Monster costume. I hope he can wear it around the house for a month or so; he looks too cute in it.

I also tried to take some pictures of Comet Holmes 17/P, which has been in the news lately. It was visible with binoculars or a telescope, but it flared up last week and you can see it with no assistance now. I thought I was prepared - had the camera, tripod, batteries, and a sky chart of the right area. I forgot one thing - the little whatsit that attaches the camera to the tripod. Ooops. Made DH stop at the end of the gravel road anyway, while I found the comet (I think) and attempted some pictures with the camera propped on top of the car. Long exposures with an idling car don't work out well.

But I got a nice surprise when we got home - in spite of the overabundance of lights around here, we could still see what I think is the comet. Having a building to block the moon actually helped. So at 11:30 last night I was out on the sidewalk with the camera, tripod, and whatsit, taking some pictures of the comet area. Now I need to find the sky chart again and make sure what I think is the comet really is the comet, and not just a star that's supposed to be there.

No comments: