I saw THEE International Space Station.  Last night!  We had heard earlier in the week that it would be visible in the southwest sky at 7:42, so I put it on the schedule.  I had a 7:00 class, but told my instructor that I would have to leave at 7:42 for a couple minutes to see the space station.  I set my phone/alarm clock to 7:42 (vibrate mode) and extricated myself from the room at the first "brrrrr".  I tried to find the astronomy class at the suggestion of Jeff/Mr. Stephenson, thinking they would know exACTly where to watch for it, but didn't find them.  So I headed southwest and fortunately, there was a clear area so I could see very close to the horizon.  I scanned the sky.  I saw Venus, the North Star, the West Star...  The longer I looked, the more bright objects came into focus.  Were they moving?  I pressed my face up against the chain link so my head wasn't moving, and no, those bright objects were not moving.

I had almost given up when I saw it.  The 7:42 time must have been for San Francisco, because it was almost 8:00 when I saw it hurtling through the sky.  Yes, hurtling.  It was gone in under two minutes.  It was pretty thrilling.

My sister and I were talking the next day and we figured we must have gotten our fascination with the night sky from our Dad.  Some of my earliest memories were of him getting up before dawn to watch rocket launches of Alan Shepard (the second man in space) in 1961, and John Glenn in 1962.  And I watched with him.    

I rarely make time to go out and stare at the night sky.  Every time I do, I tell myself I have to do it more.  Mostly what gets in the way is the cold.  And if it's not cold, it's the mosquitoes (little sons of boogers).  Here's what I posted in way back in July of '03 about a meteor shower.

Lookie what I found--another extremely cool NASA website that tells about sighting opportunities, what, where, when.  It's a lovely way to spend the evening away from the television.  Not that there's anything wrong with television...just something different.  Surprise your patootie with a night out under the stars.  Don't forget the bug repellant.

The Dove Lady LOVES watching tv, esPECially with the love of her life on the other end of the couch, and thinks it can be very romantic, especially when you throw in a box of Raisinets.

She uses the original Avon Skin So Soft bath oil in the spray bottle--the fragrance is tolerable, mosquitoes hate it, and it's not made up of a bunch of poison chemicals.

And she would probably dislocate her arm for raising it so quickly when asked, "Who wants to go for a ride on the space shuttle?" 

AAAAAAND she started her Real Life On-Line Journal Regarding All Things Wedding and More way back on July 13, 2003.  She would never call it a web log nor her postings, blogging.  As you certainly know by now, The Dove Lady doesn't do trendy.