As I drove up the winding road to Henry Coe State Park, I idly mused upon the morality of Doonsbury as I contemplated the night's aurora display. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 26 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 99 in Lynx. It was as bright as yet another globular. Then, I went for B 134. It seemed fainter than a spider. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I stumbled upon M 84 in Lyra. It appeared at low power like a faint puff of nothingness, with a suspected, but not confirmed, central star. With that checked off my list, I looked for and suspected Abell 92 in Virgo. It gave the appearance of smoke signals from a rampaging Iroquois band. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I showed some guests NGC 4505. It appeared to be a little triangle. Then, for a real challenge, I stumbled upon IC 2596 in Lynx. It appeared in the eyepiece like the eye of God. With that checked off my list, I slewed to NGC 2770 in Ophiuchus. It was as bright as yet another globular. With that checked off my list, I had a chance to see IC 1598. It appeared in the eyepiece like a swarm of bees. Next, I checked off Abell 54. It was as bright as a spitting cobra. After that, I found Abell 20. It was a dead ringer for a spitting cobra. Then, I accidentally located Abell 39. It was as bright as a Black Rider hunting for Frodo. With that checked off my list, I tried for M 73 in Draco. It was as bright as dancing elephants.
Finally, it was time to pack up and leave. As I drove home, I contemplated the events of the night, and realized that any night out under the sky with good friends is better than phone sex.