As I drove up the winding road to Twin Peaks, I idly mused upon the current state of astrology as I contemplated the fleecy clouds, hoping they would clear. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 57 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 45. It appeared as the clouds I'd seen earlier. Next, I added to my logbook Abell 13. It appeared at low power like a hamburger. (Hmm, it had been a while since dinner). With that checked off my list, I jumped to Abell 27 in Triangulum. It was a blurry likeness of a faint puff of nothingness, with a suspected, but not confirmed, central star. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I looked for and suspected NGC 2516. It looked exactly like cotton candy.
After a short break to walk around, I glimpsed M 15 in Ursa Minor. It seemed just like a glimmer of the Big Bang. Then, I star-hopped to IC 934 in Lynx. It appeared to be blackness. Next, I sought NGC 127 in a group of stars that looked like an armadillo. It glowed, rather like the eternal nothingness of being. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I located NGC 1622. It gave the appearance of cotton on velvet. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I stumbled upon IC 989. It was a dead ringer for a Black Rider hunting for Frodo.
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 stale peeps.