Shooting Stars and Ice Cream

When bad things happen in nice weather.

That sums up the largely forgettable  Covid-summer of 2020.  I always hate to see summer end, but this year everything feels different. It is very strange to see August draw to a close while feeling like summer never really arrived. Because of pandemic concerns, we missed our usual summer out-of-state-getaways. No summertime trips to the Green Mountains of Vermont for instance. We did make several day trips to Nantasket beach which were great.

On a brighter note, there were some happy occurrences. One of those was slipping out of the house at 2:30 AM to see some shooting stars. It was mid-August, I couldn’t sleep and the Perseid meteor shower was at its peak.  And, fortuitously, the skies were clear.

I went out  early morning and lay on the grass and looked at the stars. Barefott, in shorts and a t-shirt  I also had a pint of vanilla ice cream to help me bide my time until I saw a meteor.  My rule is always  not to go in until I see a shooting star. It was a lovely evening.  The air was still and warm.   All i needed was patience.

After twenty minute or so I saw one shooting star.  That was it.  The Perseid was not that active this year.  Mission accomplished, it was time to go inside to bed.   And the vanilla ice cream was finished too.

Perfect.

 

copyright 2020 Christopher Donahue

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