It's an easy thing to forget about here in Los Angeles, as are stars in general (unless we're talking about the ones on the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard). If you're lucky, you can see two, maybe three, stars in the sky here in LA. Sad. Very sad.
I grew up in the countryside in Wisconsin, where the sky is jam-packed with twinkling specks. I grew up with a father that taught me all the constellations every night while we walked our dog. I grew up with glimpses of the Northern Lights and a habit of spinning around and around while looking up until all the stars spun into one and I fell down dizzy.
I love me some stars.
The Perseid meteor shower always meant the end of summer to me when I was a kid. My family used to watch it every year--but that was a pretty easy thing to do, since it lasts about a week, and all we had to do was walk outside and look up. Still, I remember a specific time, when we were moving into our new house when I was six. We weren't completely moved in yet, so we brought sleeping bags on lawn chairs out to the driveway and had a kind of family slumber party, pointing out the shooting stars as they streaked across the sky. I think there were even M&Ms involved. Not a bad way to fall asleep.
I hadn't seen the shower in years, probably. I can't remember the last time. But this year, I was committed. I was going to see shooting stars. I have a lot of wishes to make these days.
So, naturally, I googled the best places to watch the Perseid shower in Los Angeles. Disturbingly, the first thing to show up was an LA Times article inviting one to "watch the meteor shower live, online!" Seriously?? Was this the only option in LA--to watch a meteor shower on a computer screen?? What do you do, turn off the lights, lie down on the ground, and hold your laptop above your head? No way.
Thankfully, a few other ideas popped up. The closest suggestion was Vasquez Rocks Park, about 45 minutes north of Los Angeles. When I called, the ranger assured me that people often viewed the meteor shower from there and it was "supposed to be pretty good." That was all the endorsement I needed.
Cesar, myself, and our neighbor Remy (seriously, friends, come join in on the Awesome!) headed up at about 11 p.m., with blankets, lawn chairs, a bottle of wine, a couple bags of chips, and some night vision goggles (not necessary, but fun). When we pulled up, about a dozen cars were already parked outside the park gates--way more people than I was expecting. From just over the park fence, we could hear the distant sound of laughter and people ooh-ing and aahh-ing at the night sky. I looked up; sure enough, there were a blanket of stars above us, even just an hour or so outside the city. Not bad.
Just as we stepped into the park, following the sound of the voices, a HUGE shooting star whizzed across the sky. The assembled crowd cheered.
I knew this was going to be a good night.
I've never watched a meteor shower with a group of strangers before, but after Awesome Day Twelve, I don't know that I'd do it any other way. It was, for lack of a better word, Awesome. We all talked about life, or books, or traveling in-between star shows; it was entertaining, although I have no idea what anyone else there even looked like. I never will. It was a random, brief interaction with a bunch of probably very different people, brought together by a dazzling show from nature. You don't get that often here in LA.
(Side note: One of my favorite quotes from the night was when one of the women there was describing the moon earlier that night to us. "It was amazing," she said, "Bright orange--like a giant flaming cheeto." Poetic.)
All in all, we probably saw about 30 or 40 shooting stars. I made exactly that amount of wishes. If it all works out, 30 Days of Awesome may be getting just a little more Awesome before the end. ;)
I tried to take a picture of the sky, but without any kind of proper equipment, this is all I got:
I guess you all will have to go find your own meteor shower. It's still going on tonight, if you have time to take a drive (or you can watch it online, I suppose). Sometimes it's just best to see it for yourself.
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