It was the summer of 1982, and I vividly remember rocking gently back in forth in the boat with my father, and my brothers as we pursued the elusive large mouth bass. It was well after sundown and the only light available came from the beautiful night sky lit up by the glow of the milky way. Night fishing was not an uncommon event for us as it was something we all enjoyed and it was something my father could afford to include us all in on. One of the fun things we did as we sat waiting for a tug on our line was to look up at the heavens and try to identify satellites as they flew over head. In retrospect I am surprised at how much stuff was floating around up there way back then. The most we ever counted in one outing was 17 different satellites floating by. But the night I am so vividly remembering had an even more outstanding quality to it, meteors. Not just 1 or 2 meteors, as that was quite common to see in any given hour of sky watching. But on this night it seemed like every few minutes a flash raced across the sky. Every one was unique, and the ones I liked the best were the ones that we were all lucky to spot together! Some were slow & as bright as the moon, while other were so small & so fast that if you had not been looking right at that spot in the sky you would have missed it. That was my first time experiencing a meteor shower. I came to learn later that these showers occur throughout the year, and some locations on earth have a better visibility than others. After that first shower my brothers and I started sleeping out in our front yard on nights we were not fishing just to watch for these shooting stars. We went thru many a Mountain Dew and shared countless stories with each other while we waited for the next flash of light from the Gods. The memories of those nights are as valuable to me as any amount of gold one could offer.
Tonight is a chance to witness your first meteor shower for those of you who have not had the good fortune that I have had. So go out after midnight and find yourself a nice dark area, look to the heavens for awhile and you too can experience the Perseid Meteor Shower. Even better, take your kids and introduce them to this incredible experience. It is the perfect oppurtunity to bond with them, talk with them & build some memories that hopefully they will be sharing in their adulthood. And for those of you who aren't blessed enough to have kids yet, take that special someone in your life out, crack a bottle of wine, spread the blanket and share the show. Clothes are optional in this instance, assuming you did not pick the center of the city park or your front yard as your viewing location.
Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks
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