Who’s braving the cold tonight?
Unfortunately, I have the flu, so I’ll have to pass. I probably wouldn’t be able to stay up past midnight anyway. It’s too bad because I love this sort of thing. The best meteor shower I’ve experienced was in Albuquerque many years back. I drove out into the desert and stared up at the sky for hours. There were tons of them that night, but I’ll never forget when I saw a giant one leaving a bluish-green streak across the sky.
Here’s a live broadcast, for those late night bloggers. You can actually hear them!
Diotima's Ladder 
I’m a lot more willing to do that sort of thing in the warm months. Although the skies here (south Louisiana) are rarely clear enough, even when you get far enough out.
Take care of that flu. I had something flu-like a couple of weeks ago and I’m just now getting past the vestiges of it.
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That’s the wonderful thing about living in Tucson—the skies are not cloudy all day. My husband and I like to take a little staycation and drive south closer to the border where we can get away from the city lights to do some stargazing.
This flu is insane! I’m so sick of being sick. Thank the lord for neti pots and Ny-Quil.
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I’m just getting over a cold myself, and it’s going down to 15 F in my area tonight, so unfortunately I’ll be missing the Leonids. But I hope you recover from that flu soon! Keep drinking water!
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Sounds like everyone’s getting it. I guess it’s that time of year. Thanks for your good wishes!
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Beautiful photo! Hope you feel better!
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Thanks so much!
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Sorry to hear you’re under the weather (if not the skies) Tina.
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Thanks Hariod! I can always count on your for that refreshing turn of phrase.
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Sorry you have the flu! Best wishes!
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Thanks!
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Where I live Cologne), there is just too much light. If you look at a map (or a satelite pic taken at night: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Europa-bei-nacht_1-1024×768.jpg) of Europe, you will see what I mean. The area is just too densly populated. There is no desert nearby. Moreover, its cloudy weather, the sky is grey. So, no chance. Fortunately, I did not catch flu or anything like that (yet). Hope you will get well soon.
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Thanks! I think the fever is starting to finally go away. This one has been tenacious. I’m losing track of time.
Wow, what a beautiful photo! I love how the coasts are brighter, as if outlined in light.
Oh Europe. I’d love to live there, but I would miss my star gazing. On the other hand, getting to travel by train might just make up for it. My favorite trains were the ones in Germany, the older ones. I didn’t care for the TGV so much…I preferred the slower, older ones. Then you get to see the scenery and sit in little compartments.
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I really like traveling by train. And for a small, densely populated area it is a good system.
There are actually a lot of areas with nice landscape here in Europe and also in Germany and lots of interesting places. But as you can see, it is very densely populated. Cologne is not far from the “Ruhrgebiet”, an area with several cities directly adjacent to each other so it is actually a mega-city. I think it is very different from the US here.
I have been to the US only once and that was a rather strange trip, visiting friends of my then-wife (now ex). The man was a seargeant in the army, so we visited them in Fort Brag in North Carolina. We went to the mall in a Fayetteville and that is what I have seen of the US. 🙂 I did a lot of fishing (very relaxing), including “Gulf Stream Fishing” on a day trip to the Atlantic. The place did not have any public transportation. It was rather strange but I guess in a way that was how the USA actually is in many places. In that sense it was interesting, to see the country absolutely outside the tourist-areas. I am not sure any tourist has ever come there before or after, so in a sense, I “discovered” that place 🙂
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I’m glad you saw more of the US than the mall! Although, that is probably more culturally revealing than anything else. I loved the malls in France. Everyone was drinking and smoking cigarettes and walking dogs. It cracked me up.
I went fishing once—I spent the entire time hugging the toilet. I was a kid then, and boy was I mad when I heard my father yell, “Look Tina! Dolphins!” Which I missed. Well, I’m glad you enjoyed your fishing trip. It’s a nice way to discover a place, off the beaten path.
Yeah, the lack of public transportation is annoying. I really miss that about Europe. When I was a student, I scheduled my train rides overnight to save on hotels. Flying is so expensive. I don’t mind road trips so much, but it’s actually more expensive than flying in many cases, so I can’t justify it.
The touristy thing here that I would recommend is the Grand Canyon. It’s really worth it because you get to see the whole area as well, and there are lots of hidden secrets off the beaten path. I love my state for its natural beauty. 🙂
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I completely missed that this was happening; it would have been interesting to catch it.
As someone living in Northern Canada and in a place with quite clear skies we often are in a good spot to view these events and we get to see the aurora borealis quite regularly. 🙂 But at this time of year that means braving the cold, so even if I had known about this I might have just ended up sitting inside, wrapped in a blanket while reading.
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Also, I hope you get over your flu soon. There has been something nasty going around.
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Thanks so much! Something nasty is going around. I seen it pop up in a lot of blogs lately.
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I bet the stargazing is amazing up there. I found that it was better when we lived in Vermont (although we had all those trees to contend with). Here in Tucson there’s still a lot of light pollution.
I can’t even imagine how cold it is up there. Here I start complaining about the cold when it hits 50. You’d laugh if you saw the kind of coat I wear in such weather. I’m such a desert rat.
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Yes, the stargazing is great, as I have heard it is in the deserts in the southwest of the US.
You tend to grow accustomed to whatever you are exposed to in terms of weather. So I will wear shorts and a t-shirt at 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit), but at the same time any temperature over about 27 (80 Fahrenheit) feels uncomfortably hot to me.
A couple of weeks ago it was -20 (-4 Fahrenheit) here, but now it is a more seasonable -5 (23 Fahrenheit).
I remember the first time I went to Florida seeing people in fleece coats when it was 70 Fahrenheit and thinking “what is wrong with these people; this is perfect t-shirt and shorts weather.” But then again they probably thought the same about the fact that I was in a t-shirt and shorts.
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These meteor showers are very beautiful, and makes you appreciate how big and varied the universe really is. Unfortunately where I am it’s virtually impossible to see them as the sky’s often cloudy and being a big city, there’s all that light pollution to contend with too 😦
It’s a mesmerising experience though.
Vijay
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