Even More Slow Meteors

 Night before last I saw two more slow-moving meteors, one right after the other. The second one appeared to the right of Venus. It was almost as bright as Venus and toward the end of its flight it got a little brighter. It was white and it lasted about ten seconds. It that time it only moved about half a hand's length held at arm's length. Like all of these slow-moving ones it didn't have a trail.

 It was the first one that blew my mind. It lasted easily two minutes. It first appeared to be a really bright star in the sky but like most of them I thought it was an airplane at first, although it wasn't blinking and it appeared to be standing still for several seconds. If it were a star it shouldn't have been there. I wasn't sure what it was. 

 After several seconds I could see that it was moving slowly. It was on a trajectory that was almost straight toward me, which is why it appeared to be standing still. I watched it for a good two minutes until it blinked out. It was mostly white but it had tinges of red and yellow. So far it's the longest lasting of the slow ones I've seen. I'd say I've seen around 15 so far.

 I've told my theory on slow meteors before. I could be totally wrong and I've never heard anyone else say this, but I think it may be like playing pool. When you hit the object ball with the cue ball it appears to instantly go flying off toward the pocket, but if you were to slow it down you'd see that it takes a fraction of a second to get up to full speed. 

 When the object ball is struck it usually rolls backward at first, so it doesn't instantly reach full speed. It travels several inches before it starts rolling forward with full velocity. Maybe these slow-moving meteors have recently been struck and sent our way, and haven't had enough time and distance to be hauling ass like most meteors we see. 

 Most of the meteors we see have been traveling untold amounts of time and distance to get here, and they've been up to speed for a long time. Objects in the Oort Cloud for example that were struck and sent toward us would be relatively close, like a gimme in the side pocket. 

 I could be completely wrong but that's my guess. In any case it blows my mind to see these slow-moving meteors. There's no question they're meteors. At times they do resemble planes, helicopters and fireworks but they're not. I watch until they blink out and in most cases I also see them appear. I still have way better vision than most people and that includes night vision. 

 I've seen thousands of meteors and 99.9% of them zoom by and only last a few seconds. Back in 2015 a site I've been using since I first got on the internet, livemeteors.com, which tracks incoming meteors, started tracking meteors that lasted up a minute or more. That flipped some people out including myself, and I couldn't wait to see one in person, which I did the next year. 

 I know it's no big deal to most people but it's pretty cool to we sky-watchers. What's the story? Why are these meteors moving so slowly? Is it like a cosmic game of 8-ball or is it something else? We don't know, but it's dang sure interesting to sky-watchers. Heads-up. Earth, corner pocket. 

Tea Time

 I found out recently that my dog likes Chai tea as much as I do. In fact I'd have to call him a connoisseur. When I make a cup I try to keep an eye on it but sometimes I forget about it and when he knows I'm not looking he'll snab it with the quickness. 

 I didn't take one sip of this cup. My dumb ass got up and did something and he helped himself to the whole thing. I caught him just in time to see him getting the dregs, with excellent cup-leaning technique. Little effer. 

 I'll holler if I catch him in time and he'll back off, but I certainly can't get mad at him because it's my fault for leaving it where he can get it. Granted he'll eat 99.999999% of every food item on planet Earth, and he'll make anything edible just a memory in a second or two, but there are some things he enjoys a little extry, and Chai tea is one of those.

 He can't help it. He's ruled by his nose and food is his thing. In the Beagle hierarchy I'm #3 behind food and w-a-l-k-s. I hate to say it but if there were a contest between me and a plate of food, the plate of food would win. 

 This woman who has a Beagle left a great comment on a video. She said something to the effect of: "He barks as loud as a jet engine; he shreds my socks and he'd trade me for a slice of stale bread, but I love him with all my heart." I hear you sister. That's funny, and true.

 He likes the aroma of Chai tea with regular milk anyway, as opposed to coffee prepared the same way, and the goat milk powder I've been using lately takes it to another level for him. We both love it. 

 I'm a massive milk freak. I drink mostly organic dairy milk but I wanted to get some milk powder for when I run out of regular milk for my tea and coffee. Goat's milk is way better for you, and pets too.

 In fact you can give it to your dogs and cats, whereas dairy milk isn't good for them. Goat milk is more easily digestible, more nutritious with less fat and calories, almost zero lactic acid and such, and it's actually fairly similar to human breast milk. It's goat's mother's milk. It's outstanding. I'd sure have a few goats if I had some property. Fresh is best but it's illegal here to sell raw goat's milk for human consumption. 

 You can buy it raw for "pet consumption only" though. Several times I've gotten it at a great pet store. It's frozen. Even so it tastes fantastic. I love regular milk more than almost anything else in the world, but compared to it, goat milk is ambrosia. Fresh would have to be mind-blowing. Man I need a goat. 

 Anyway I guess it's not horrible for him except for calories and sugar. I use Agave nectar to sweeten it. It's better than sugar sugar but it's still sugar. It's stupid even taking about something so obvious I guess but it's interesting to see him enjoy something even more than he usually does. 

 He loves V8 juice and other things, and normally he just slurps it down with all sorts of noises, but he actually lingers a little bit over tea, almost like a gentleman. Normally something is inhaled in five seconds but he takes almost half a minute over a cup of tea. That's funny, and as we all know it's not good manners to slurp a cup of tea. 

 For what it's worth the tea and Agave nectar are organic and the powder comes from grass fed goats. I love it and so does my dog. Compared to the velocity of how quickly he usually snarfs down anything edible, he takes his time so much that I could almost have a cup with him. In any case he knows whatbhe likes. He has a discriminating palette, and he really knows how to work that cup. He's a proper foodie he is.

A Visit to a Gas Station in the Boonies

Through the kindness of friends and a few strangers I find myself living out in the country, which is something I never could have imagined. I needed to decompress from 16 years of looking after my folks without a day off and being in the hard-core city for the last eight, and this is a pretty good place to do it. 

 I went to the local gas station to get smokes and I hate to say it but also some liquor. It's a combination gas station, Sneaky Pete's and liquor store. There was a young sister behind the counter. On first glance she looked like a typical gen-whatever, who'd rather be anywhere else. I couldn't say I blamed her. She was mid-20s tops.

 I'm the last person in the world who'd categorize, stereotype or judge a book by its cover, but I've seen so many women who fit her description who are lost and don't give a shit about much of anything that really matters. Thank God she didn't fit that description. 

 I got the smokes and told her I was going to get some booze. She turned around and walked into the liquor portion of the store. Customers have to go back outside and walk around the building to the other entrance but that's okay. 

 She said "Okay honey." I was glad she didn't call me "sir." Usually I'd think calling someone old enough to be their grandfather "honey" would be weird, but it seemed natural. It wasn't condescending or patronizing or fake.

 When I went into the liquor store part she was standing behind the counter. I took a closer look at her and realized how beautiful she was. She had dark, shoulder-length hair that was mostly straight but curled at the ends. It reminded me of Betty Boop but in a good way. It was sort of retro but modern too.

 She's one of those women you have to take a second look at to see how beautiful they are, and that's the kind I really like. She had slightly sharp but pleasant features. I was looking at her and thinking "wow."

 Although she had called me honey she hadn't really smiled or said much. I don't have a problem talking to women age 19 to 91 but I generally don't try to start a conversation with someone that much younger unless they talk to me first, but this time I did. 

 I said that I'd just moved here for a bit and that I loved it here. With that she just lit up. "Oh yeah" she said. "I do too!" I told her I'd been in the city too long, and she went "Pffft" and made a disgusted face. I heard that. 

 She told me she lived nearby, and started talking about all the good things about living here. I was getting a great vibe from her, and since we were talking and looking eye-to-eye I was able to look at her and take in her beauty without seeming like a dirty old man.

 We had a really nice chat and I was so glad I spoke up. Again I hate to stereotype but if I saw a young lady like her in the city, chances are she'd be caught up in city bullshit, with not much appreciation for the country. It was a breath of fresh air. 

 Speaking of fresh air, I wonder if the air here has something to do with the way people here are so nice. Everyone I've met so far has been as nice as they can be, and they don't have the "plastic" vibe that most people in the city do. They appreciate Nature and the relaxed atmosphere here. I'd have to say that they're my people. 

 It was so nice talking to her and a bit of a surprise to find out that she was so cool and down-to-earth. I hope she's working next time I go there. Tomorrow a buddy is visiting. He's the young black guy I've mentioned, who was a neighbor of mine and who plays horn and has one of the sweetest horn tones I've ever heard. We'll stop by and see if she's working. If so I'm pretty sure he'll be impressed. 

 I look forward to seeing her again and I certainly won't hesitate to chat her up. Who knows...maybe she has a " granddaddy" thing going on. Usually I'd avoid that kind of thing but in her case I think I could make an exception.

 I seriously doubt that would happen but it'll be nice to have a temporary friend like her. It's too bad that more city girls can't be like her. I think they're missing out on what's truly important in life. I like it here. These are my people. Have a nice day. 

Signs in the Heavens? A New Moon

                           I've been saying "Heads-up" for at least a decade, and I've also been saying that although there aren't many sky-watchers these days, everyone will become one by default at some point, and we may be approaching that point. 

 Out of nowhere comes news that we're about to have another moon for a couple of months. I say out of nowhere because this snuck up on us, and usually the people who follow sky stuff know about things like this well in advance. Apparently they've known about it for a month or so but it's just being made public.

 So far what we've heard is that an asteroid is about to come close enough to Earth to be grabbed by its gravitational field, and orbit like a second moon for a while before going back into space. That's some shit. It's much smaller than our moon but apparently it's going to be visible. 

 It should flip some people out but it shouldn't cause any major panic, although my guys are saying that this is just the tip of the iceberg, with other stuff on the way, and everything I've been looking into for many years supports that. 

 I'll say for the millionth time that a Bible verse that mentions "signs in the heavens" caught my attention at age three or four, and even back then I felt like I'd be here to see it. Whether or not this new moon is a "sign" can be debated, but it's not totally unreasonable to take it as such. As a sky- watcher for almost my entire life I can say that I've seen things in the sky over the last few years that I've never seen before.

 For good measure we'll also have a comet at around the same time. It will be closest to Earth in early October. Without looking it up I want to say it's the 9th, but you can Google it. They say it may even be visible in the daytime. I haven't seen a comet clearly since Hale-Bopp. 

 Having another small moon in the sky, with a bonus comet is going to be interesting. It should certainly get a few people looking up. If that doesn't do it I think there's bigger stuff coming in that will. But are these things truly "signs," or is it just happenstance? You get to decide. Maybe I won't need to say it much longer but for now I'll say it again- heads-up. Enjoy the show. 

The Lake Loon Chronicles: Duck Info

I'm an info junkie and a big fan of interesting animals. Today I got the story on the duck who lives next door. All I knew was that the duck is a badass and is boss of the lake out here. 

 I had my second conversation with the couple who adopted the duck and who feed it. They're some of the sweetest people I've ever met in my life. They told me that the duck's name is Daphne. How cool. They said that they moved here 14 years ago and she was already here. They started feeding her so that's where she's been hanging out. Daphne is one of the most interesting neighbors I've had in quite some time. 

 Certain animals have a vibe that's larger than life, and Daphne is one of them. I noticed that the first time I saw her, although I was calling her "he" at the time. When I saw my dog barking at her from 15' away and she didn't even flinch i knew she was a badass. Talking to her adoptive parents confirmed it.

 They agreed that she's a force of Nature. I  wouldn't have guessed that a duck's lifespan was 14 years but what do I know? Today I watched her swim across the lake with considerable speed, like she was on a mission. She hung out in a neighbor's yard, hunting grubs maybe, until I got tired of waiting for her to swim back. There are 4' Alligator Gars in the lake but she apparently has the right of way. Impressive. 

 I vibe out on interesting animals all the time but this duck is something special. I know I'm simple-minded and an animal lover, but that's how it is, and I know an extraordinary animal when I see one. No one can argue that. 

 Here I'm is...out in the boonies and deep-ass in Nature...which is exactly where I need to be at this particular time, and my neighbor is a duck named Daphne...why not? Then there are the humans who adopted her, who are some of the best neighbors I've ever had. God is good. Daphne the duck for a next door neighbor...who'd have thunk it? I don't care if I'm retarded...I can dig it. 

The Lake Loon Chronicles: Heron Update

Last night I took my dog for a walk and another heron flew by. I don't know if it's the same one that buzzed us the other night or not, but they're territorial so it very well could've been. It only flew by once instead of buzzing us the way it did the other night. 

 It took Bert by surprise the other night because he'd never seen or heard a heron up close. He froze in place and kept looking at me for an explanation. It wasn't the same story last night. As soon as he heard the heron's cry he started barking loudly. He was giving him what for. He'd filed that sound in his memory banks, and this time he was ready for it. 

 It was as if he was saying: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and I'm going to bark." I had to laugh both times. The difference in his reactions was pretty noticeable. That dog is a piece of work.