As I drove up the winding road to my home observatory, I idly mused upon the impact upon modern astronomy of Plato's Republic as I contemplated the El Nino weather patterns. 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 64. It was as bright as cotton on velvet. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I added to my logbook M 84 in Ophiuchus. It looked uncannily like Gollum. Then, I tried M 76 in Triangulum. It looked exactly like Demi Moore. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I glimpsed IC 369 in Orion. It reminded me of that graph in An Unpleasant Truth. After that, I tracked down NGC 4082. It was even more difficult than Krylon Ultra-Flat Black.
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 taking an elevator during a Stage 3 alert.