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Searching for the Milky Way
By Bob Ede
During winter the rule is: the colder the nights the clearer the skies. This season the skies have been cloudy more often than not.
I have been waiting for the skies to clear so I could take off for the back roads with my camera and tripod. Friday night, it finally cleared. It was a new moon. The skies would be extra dark. Sometimes you get lucky.
I wanted to travel at least a mountain range away from the lights of the valley bottom.
The dogs and I parked near the mine and hiked the rest of the way. It was as dark as it gets. The only light was from the stars. Nights like this are rare.
Winter has the brightest stars. We face away from the center of the Milky Way. The colours are different every time. I am new to this, but it would take a billion years to become well versed.
It was silent. I saw Orion, Pleiades, Jupiter, Cassiopeia, Andromeda and the Milky Way. I saw the poplars and spruce.
There is something comforting in distance and dark skies.
My dog, Slinky, barked at a jet flying at 30,000 feet. Damn, she looks after me!
When he was a kid, Bob Ede had a plan to build a space ship out of scrap, but couldn’t find the right carburetor to get it off the ground. Now, he is well past middle age and still looking.
