Age Must Be Setting In

Spent last weekend at Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus near Crowell, Texas. Several times a year you can catch me setting up under the stars, ready for a weekend of fun. But the other night, it was cold. Damn cold.

Back in the day, when I was in my youthful, exuberant early to mid 30s, there wasn't a time when the cold weather would set me back. In fact, perhaps five years ago, I held an imaging seminar out at the Fort Worth Astronomical Society's (FWAS) dark sky site near Cottondale, Texas, and proudly braved 22 degree temperatures as a dozen participants and myself enjoyed some fantastic imaging, not to mention Louise Greve's hot-sandwiches. Wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Last Saturday night, before it got down to 22 degrees F, at around 10PM, I called it a night in the warm, cozy confines of the "jail," what we affectionately call the Comanche Springs bunkhouse. Yes, I was the first to call it quits. I was the sacrificial lamb in order to assure good skies for the rest of the dozen or so astronomers on hand. Nah, I'm just kidding, my altruism stops at the point of a frozen butt. I just wimped out; pure and simple.

Amazingly, shortly after midnight, the temps really bottomed out...at 12.5 degrees F. Any regrets?

Nope. Hehe.

As much as I yearn for doing this hobby; as much as I used to endure just about anything to image the sky; I'm a wimp now. Or maybe, at the ripe old age of 40, I'm just gaining wisdom. What is the old adage? "A brave man likes the feel of nature on the face, but a wise man is smart enough to get out of the rain."

At 12.5 degrees F, when everybody else pitched in the towel, I was already snug under the covers. Pretty smart, eh?

Well, that's my story...I'm sticking to it.