Stargazing has always fascinated me. When I was a kid, I got a lot of "Steven, get down off that roof this minute! You're going to break your neck." I miss the rural Illinois night sky. I envy you folks that don't have urban glare. Getting into the wilds of California though can rival some of the best stargazing I've known. I remember one night, up in the giant redwoods in Humboldt county. We set up camp on a wide bend near the Eel river. That campsite was magical,, with an incredible view of the night sky and towering redwoods on either bank. What a show. I had never seen the Milky Way that clearly before. That was the first time I realized that you could actually see our own galaxy. It's a profound thing. Hey Cameron! Congratulations to your son. Sounds like he's on the right track. Ah, to be young again. Steven

I woke up to the sound of crashing glass at 3:17am! Turns out DH was watching the eclipse and coming back to bed he knocked the crystal lamp off the night stand. He was excited about the eclipse and I asked him if he had any remorse about the broken lamp. He responded that we should look at the positive side which was that the last time this happened (eclipse coincided with the winter solstice was 372 years ago) and he would have knocked over an oil lamp or candles and it would have started a fire.

We were so lucky in Orlando! Sky was clear and the cold weather has reduced the humidity so the stars were sharp and bright. We set the alarm for 2:30am and went out on the golf course where it was really dark, with quilts to wrap ourselves in of course. Sarah the 14 year old Sheltie wasn't thrilled to be woken up at that hour but once we got to the golf course she decided it was a party and dashed around like a puppy. We even saw two shooting stars. If I'm still around in 372 years I'll do it again! Kate

Here's the eclipse from April 14, 2014, taken in my back yard. The one last night was not this red, probably because the moon was directly overhead during the eclipse last night, whereas this one was closer to the horizon. I have a better camera now, but this one was taken with the camera on a tripod with a one second exposure, I think. It was around 60°F last night during the eclipse, and so weather was not an issue, but there were some clouds that would occasionally pass over the moon. Skies were clearer in 2014.