Scorpio? or not?
Just got back from a visit with our daughter who lives in Los Angeles. We were there for a few days and did a lot of sightseeing. The first thing my son asked me when we got back was if we saw any celebrities. I saw some stars, alright, but not the kind he meant.
My star sighting was a complete surprise, like the other day when my daughter looked out her living room window and saw a grubby, barely recognizable Michael Cera ambling down the sidewalk, likely headed to one of the many delightful cafes in Silver Lake.
You just never know when the stars will reveal themselves. Ask any of those thousands of tourists overflowing the Hollywood tour buses, clutching their star maps in one hand and cell phone cameras in the other. You can stare holes in the beautiful California scenery for hours and not see a single vaguely attractive person, much less an authentic celebrity. Weirdos and wannabes are plentiful, but the real thing - not so much. Then, when you least expect it, one saunters by less than twenty feet away, on his way to buy a cuppa Joe.
Back to my star sighting: on the long drive home from the Hotlanta airport, we found ourselves passing through rural Georgia in the middle of the night. Most excellent for (real) stargazing with one small problem: aside from the Big Dipper and Orion, I don't know the Milky Way from a Milk Dud. So I'm looking out the passenger side window which is facing south (I don't know constellations but I do know the four compass directions most of the time), minding my own business, barely awake, when I noticed a very prominent, swirly arrangement of stars in the lower half of the sky. I knew it had to be one of the well-known constellations. I mean, if I could spot it, anyone could - especially pre-historic genius star gazers. I got very excited about this because I always thought it would be cool to know more than two constellations on sight, and maybe this was my chance to add a third! After some frustrating digging around online, I think it was Scorpius - or Scorpio for you horoscope fans, the killer insect of late fall birthday fame. Now I have to ask why a fall birthday constellation is so prominent in a summer sky, but I will save that for another Google search.
Dam sunset on Lake Murray 🙂
I haven't seen Scorpio since due to cloudy nighttime conditions. And after looking at star charts, I am wondering if it was something else, maybe Draco? I will definitely be checking it out the next time we have clear skies at night which naturally will not be any time soon. We need the rain, but it figures the only rainy spell we have had all summer aligns perfectly with the only time I am itching for my own personal Star Search. Stay tuned and I will let you know when I find some more. Have you seen the skies above Lake Murray, SC? Should be a snap.
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