Spring 32, Tobin 17… Spring officially wins…
Well I’ve given up on astronomy for now. I’ll come back to it when the weather stabilizes. It’s a shame mostly because I wasn’t ready to give up on Jupiter. By the time the summer ‘highs’ arrive Jupiter will have progressed into daylight for the summer. Fortunately it will be back in early fall and should still be just as close to zenith as it progresses as it has been so far.
As will Orion. Which I miss tons…
I’m hoping I can somehow manage to salvage the summer with some DSO’s, Saturn, & the moon. DSO’s are tough though since I live in Bortle level 8 skies and my opportunities to travel to darker skies will probably be limited… Still… Maybe Saturn in clearer skies will tide me…
I’ll admit that I enjoyed that fire in my soul, that eagerness… that absolute obsession that a new hobby, especially a righteous one such as astronomy can bring… I’m afraid that cooling it, and coming back to it later, will reveal only hot coals… Hopefully that will be enough to keep me going though.
It was nice to spend some of that hard earned money on something fun that’s actually… What’s the word… Good?!? Naw, that doesn’t do it justice… Not wasteful? Not Chinese throw away Walmart stuff we only use until we get bored and throw it away? Or maybe, it was nice to spend my money on quality scientific instruments that the whole family can benefit from for the rest of my life… Maybe a bit dramatic but truer to what I feel I suppose… I know this; I feel no guilt, buyer’s shame, or regret for spending upwards of $2000 on astronomy gear in the first 49 days of the hobby. Can’t say that for most of my hobbies. J
I’ll be moving on to other endeavors that are starting to become priorities, or rather should have already been done… some years ago… Like refinishing my front doors… fixing a leak in my sprinkler system. Harvesting my wheat. Moving (or rather removing) my garden. Finishing my upstairs desk instead of propping it up on a night stand. J Stuff that needs to be done. Hell I might even pick the guitar back up.
I know this… I’ve had my last night, for at least the remainder of this spring, where I wait till midnight for the skies to clear, only to have the fog roll in and shut me out… again… and again…
It’s been 49 days since Shelly bought me that first telescope. There have been 17 days with observable skies. Spring wins in a landslide….
-Tobin