As I drove up the winding road to Twin Peaks, I idly mused upon the current state of the human spirit 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 56 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 66 in Serpens. It seemed almost black pearls on flocked paper.
After a short break to cut some cheese, I nudged my telescope to IC 474. It was like cotton on velvet. With that checked off my list, I tried for Abell 7 in Sculptor. It seemed most like a little triangle. Then, for a real challenge, I found IC 830. It would be easy to confuse with the eye of God. After that, I tracked down M 28. It appeared as Smokey the Bear.
After a short break to gulp down my remaining canned margaritas, I found NGC 6661. It appeared at low power like a far-away cloud. After that, I found NGC 2162. It was not quite as bright as the last six objects I'd seen. With that checked off my list, I tracked down Abell 7 in Virgo. It seemed most like Dubya. After that, I looked for and suspected Abell 79. It seemed almost all the other smudges I've ever looked at. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I studied Abell 27 in Pisces Austrinus. It was easy, just like dandruff on black satin pajamas. After that, I found by accident B 522. It gave the appearance of diamonds on black velvet. With that checked off my list, I nudged my telescope to IC 2357. It would be easy to confuse with the clouds I'd seen earlier. After that, I found Abell 83. It appeared to be Santa Claus. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I sketched NGC 2980 in Septans. It was better than Demi Moore. Then, I slewed to Abell 2 in a group of stars that looked like an armadillo. It looked a bit like yet another globular.
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 Segmentation fault (core dumped).