Falling Stars
Published August 13, 2009
Last night I wanted to see the Perseid Meteor shower. There’s something magical about seeing those falling stars, and I never fail to feel a little thrill when it happens. I had thought of driving down to Joshua Tree National Park after I left the studio, but it was almost dark and I didn’t think I’d make it soon enough. So finally, I decided I’d try driving over The Crest Hwy and see if I could get far enough away from the light pollution of the LA basin. After I crossed over the ridge of the mountains, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. But by this time, I had to keep going. I ended up in the high desert off Hwy 138. I turned down a dirt road and found myself a spot in a patch of joshua trees (same variety as in the park). I don’t recommend this, but I knew exactly where I was because I have been out there many times in the daylight looking for poppies in the spring.
At night in the desert there is not much sound – no crickets, no frogs, no birds. The only sound was the wind; up where I was there’s often wind. It was pretty windy last night, but it was also warm, so the strong wind felt great. There was still quite a bit of light pollution even way out there, and by the time I got there, the moon was rising – not good for meteor viewing. But I did spot quite a few – I’d say it averaged about 1 every 2 minutes. Nothing compared to the spectacular Leonid Meteor shower I witnessed in Joshua Tree in 2001. That was like something out of a fairy tale. Thousands fell per hour all night long. It was like fireworks all over the entire sky. But that kind of phenomenon will not happen again in my lifetime. Sadly I have no photos to show from that, but here is one from Wally Pacholka who specializes in night skies and has some amazing stuff.
In any case, I just enjoyed the night and the sky. It was beautiful.
I’ve mentioned this quote by Vincent Van Gogh before,
“I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream.”
I think/talk a lot about hope from time to time. Last night I was thinking about how the sight of stars makes me dream. And dreaming is one way to generate hope. I miss seeing stars living in LA. I think maybe a lot of things in our world would be better if more people sat and looked at the stars more often. Why does every light in the city have to stay on all night? How about turning them off for a couple hours every night? Save some energy and restore some sagging spirits in the world.
Last night as I was driving out of the desert around 3am, this song happened to come up on my iPod. This is a live version from Bonnie Raitt:
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There are no meteors visible in these photos – those are just star trails from the long exposure.
