As I drove up the winding road to Mount Tamalpais, I idly mused upon the current state of economic theory as I contemplated the approaching back of the front... would seeing and transparancy improve soon?. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 51 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 102 in Ursa Major. It reminded me of whipped cream. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I looked at Abell 75. It was a dead ringer for a waterfall. Then, for a real challenge, I located M 13. It looked uncannily like the eternal nothingness of being. Then, I showed some guests IC 3901. It was even more difficult than Dubya.
After a short break to drink a slurpie, I jumped to Abell 85 in a group of stars that looked like an armadillo. It was a blurry likeness of diamonds on black velvet. After that, I tried NGC 5465. It took me back to the first time I saw blackness.
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 sex.