As I drove up the winding road to my driveway, I idly mused upon the impact upon modern astronomy of chaos theory as I contemplated the past week of rain. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 48 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 75 in Hydra. It was easy, just like a faint puff of nothingness, with a suspected, but not confirmed, central star.
After a short break to drink a slurpie, I sketched NGC 2067. It would be easy to confuse with spent coals, faintly glowing. Next, I looked for and suspected M 67. It looked exactly like Krylon Ultra-Flat Black. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I stumbled upon B 45. It compared favorably with smoke signals from a rampaging Iroquois band. After that, I hunted for IC 3625. It looked a bit like the eye of God.
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 a poke in the eye with a frozen dishrag.