Dewdrop Gizmos

It's good to have lots of hobbies, in case one dries up, as in the case of my recent gardening efforts.  That left me earnestly hoping for much-needed rain.  At the same time, I wished for clear skies for stargazing.  Apparently, my ambivalence resulted in clouds but no rain.

While I waited for either rain or clear skies, I knocked together this astronomy work table on the front porch.  I nailed the top of an old corner coffee table to the porch railings.  The idea here is to save the stargazing atlases from heavy dew.  I was getting tired of running back into the house to check on what I was seeing.  This elegant invention features two 2x2 boards supporting an old storm window.  The Foulers left dozens of the windows in various outbuildings.  The boards and glass are just laid on the table top and can be moved to the wrought iron table on the back deck when I want to see what's up in the north.

At Walmart, I found lots of  non-traditional astronomy equipment recently.  There was a baby bed mattress cover to keep the dew from soaking  my adjustable office chair.  The package said it would hold several cups of  liquid, which made me wonder if they hadn't heard of diapers.  While I was at it, I got an eye patch and an eyeglasses chain.  Also on my list was a piece of lightweight black fleece to cover my head to block out stray light.  I can hear cars approaching some distance away, which gives me time to toss the cloth over the telescope and duck into the house.  There, I shut my eyes tight until it passes.  All that is to preserve my night vision.  For that purpose, I have a red-beam LED astro flashlight, from Orion Telescopes and Binoculars.

So, I frequently am wandering around the house in the dark,  wearing an eye patch and black cloak, using the red-beam light to not step on the dog or cats.  I wonder what they think of all that.  They sometimes look a little worried about me.  I assume they take it in their stride, but that's only because they don't know how to roll their eyes.