HEARD FROM. Fellow skywatcher Bobby Godwin called at a decent hour last Thursday to report on his effort to see the Perseid Meteor Shower. Bobby likes to go out to the old Corinth Church of Christ hilltop north of Nashville and watch the night skies. He said he didn’t have much luck on the previous night. There were several other people out there hoping for a glimpse of meteors, he reported.
My radio sidekick, Loren Hinton, on the other hand woke me up twice Thursday night to give glowing reports of his own meteor sightings.
He watches from his home north of De Queen. Loren didn’t know I was already in bed at 9:05 when he called the first time. “Louie, did you see that one?”
Nah, Loren, I’m inside the house but I’ll go outside, now.
But I didn’t go outside. I went back to sleep.
Until 9:35 when he called again. “Wow, did you see that one?”
I did get up at about 2:30 and again at about 4:30 Friday morning. Thought seriously about calling Loren.
Sat out on the patio for about 15 minutes each time, and saw a total of about 20 shooting stars.
When I went back to bed both times I blocked possible calls from Loren.
So, the 2016 Perseids were real successful for me, even if it did cost me some shuteye.
After the first few days, the meteors were expected to continue in diminished numbers for a couple more days. Of course, it was raining or overcast almost all of that time.
It is soooooo hard to comprehend the vastness of the universe.
I watch every tv program about the stars. This past weekend there was one which a perfesser said that our Sun was one of 100 billion suns in the Milky Way galaxy. Almost every sun has several planets in orbit.
Then, a half hour after that program was over, I watched another.
In this one, the perfessers said that our sun was one of 200 billion suns in the Milky Way. Which program was closer — 100 billion or 200 billion?
Both programs claimed that there were at least 100 billion galaxies in our known universe outside of the Milky Way.
Since I can’t fully comprehend the vastness of the Milky Way, I am going to contemplate having a Milky Way candy bar.
TRY AS I MIGHT, I cannot remember my first day at a Catholic school in Texarkana.
I do not remember getting to school each day, but etched firmly in my memory is the way I got home.
I rode the city bus home after school. My mother would give me a nickel in the morning. “Don’t lose it, it’s your bus fare for home.”
Then came the day when I lost that nickel. I was torn between just standing on the corner bus stop crying uncontrollably, or trying to bluff my way onto the bus.
There were several other kids who rode the city bus home. Every day we had the same bus driver.
My bluff lasted until I took the first two steps up into the bus. “I’ve lost my nickel,” I bawled, fearful that he’d put me off the bus and the gypsies would come steal me.
But, no, he just said c’mon on in, son. I took my usual seat and got home without further ado.
I think I took him an extra nickel next day.
Texarkana no longer has a city bus system. And my old school has long, long since been torn down.
I CLEARLY remember my last day of classes at the University of Arkansas. The teacher was Prof. Good, long gone to his reward. I had taken his classes in journalism for three years. Because I’d spent a hitch in the Navy before going on the UA campus, one of my younger brothers had beat me to Prof. Good’s classroom, but that brother had himself gone off to the Navy after just one year.
As I walked out of the classroom, Prof. Good said: “It’s been nice having you, Larry.”
NICE VISIT. Just had a nice visit with the twins — Trial and Error.
I KNOW I WROTE this before, but out of 113 million-plus Americans, are Hillary and Donald the best candidates the political parties can come up with?
THINGS I LEARNED from opening email: Some people have tact; others tell the truth.
HE SAID: “Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.” Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
SHE SAID: “The popular idea that a child forgets easily is not an accurate one. Many people go right through life in the grip of an idea which has been impressed on them in very tender years.” Dame Agatha Christie, novelist
SWEET DREAMS, Baby
