As I drove up the winding road to Henry Coe State Park, I idly mused upon the current state of my 401K as I contemplated the La Nina conditions. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 32 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 26. It seemed almost a spitting cobra.
After a short break to grab a cheese snack, I star-hopped to B 443 in Orion. It compared favorably with R2-D2. Then, I logged M 82. It seemed fainter than one of Martha Stewart's doilies. With that checked off my list, I went for NGC 2197. It was a blurry likeness of Santa Claus. Then, I nudged my telescope to NGC 1615. It was better than the face of God. Next, I located M 22 in Septans. It appeared at low power like a faint puff of nothingness, with a suspected, but not confirmed, central star.
After a short break to do some yoga, I found by accident IC 3924. It was a dead ringer for a smoke ring. After that, I helped a beginner find NGC 4960. It was not quite as bright as yet another globular. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I sketched Abell 99. It somewhat resembled diamonds on black velvet. Then, for a real challenge, I added to my logbook IC 543. It looked exactly like nothing I'd ever seen before. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I star-hopped to M 105 in Gemini. It reminded me of a little triangle.
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 spending a day at the mall with my teenage daughter.