Can't find the moon

I can't find the moon. It's gone - lost in space. Maybe it fell into the black hole or some deep dark abyss. I saw it just the other night. Saw the twinkle in his eye and that little tell tale of a smirk frothing at his lip. Was that smirk something of what was to come? Did he know he would hide from me this morning?

I'm sitting outside guzzling my morning coffee - trying to get my engine revved up to start the day. The sky is beautiful loaded with stars and other planets - looks like no clouds to hide behind. But he's not there.... Stars are sparkling, planes are buzzing quietly through the skies - but NO moon.

I read somewhere that during the month of October some planet - the name of which has slipped my weary mind - was going to be very-very visible right beneath the moon. So now what? No moon around. How can I gaze at this planet? This other universe where somebody may be gazing back at me.

How rude of the moon to play this trick on me and hide. Is this intentional? Is this to confuse my mind more than it already is. I have been wandering around in the dark in my backyard - searching for his glow and smiling face. I have no idea what the neighbors are thinking. And why do they have no concerns over the missing moon? Have they no life?

I'll check one more time before the morning swims across the sky and slowly covers all the stars and planets from view. Perhaps tonight or tomorrow morning he will show his face and I can see that planet of which name I cannot remember but just have to see. I need patience or a telescope. What will the neighbors be thinking then?

Stars in the sky

I'm sitting outside in the wee hours of this beautiful Saturday morning - still dark and quiet as if the world has yet to begin. I hear the water sprinklers and the cat on the deck barfing but no other sounds to paint the early morning.

I look up at the sky with the crescent shaped moon surrounded by stars and planets and an occasional plane sailing silently through the sky to places unknown. I always wonder where they are going and wishing it was me. I used to wish on the first star I saw at night but then I grew up. Actually sometimes I still make wishes on that first evening star. But this morning the sky is filled with stars and it's not a time for wishing but enjoying the moment.

Looking south right over the tops of the palm trees I see a star or perhaps a planet as it is sooo big. It's flashing. At first I think it's a plane but it doesn't move it just flashes. I rub the early morning sleepiness from my eyes but still it flashes. Far off to my left I see another flash but it moves so it must be a plane? Is it? I wonder.

My mind wanders and I think about the new planet that the news says it right for human habitation. I wonder if this flashing planet or star is advertising for people to come and visit? Or is it an alien ship spying on what we do in the dark hours of the new day. I drink my coffee laced with hazelnut cream and stare at the flashing orb and try not to be hypnotized.

Orionid Meteor Show

In the early hours of this beautiful quiet morning I lay nestled in the grass gazing upward toward the great sky. I searched with anticipation for the meteor show. I thought my location would have a direct view but - no - I was sadly disappointed. I scanned the darkened sky for anything with movement to no avail. I saw a plane race across the sky to some unknown destination but that was all.
60 meteors per minute sounds like a great display to me. It seems like I should see just one. The grass was cold and my patience was dissipating. I went back inside but could not resist the force. 'The force be with you', I believe that was a Jedi saying? I imagined that they encountered many meteor sightings on their expeditions. I trudged back outside wrapped in my fleece robe and looked up. I waited.
The stars were not aligned properly for my benefit or perhaps I was too close to city pollution to reap the best of show. It was still a calming effect laying in the cold grass looking into the wild blue yonder. Today, there will be no wishes upon a shooting star - just reality.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20091020/sc_space/getoutorionidmeteorshowerpeaksovernight