January 14

With the large cold front that arrived late yesterday, our January thaw came to an abrupt end. Really a part of me was relieved, for this thaw was strangely warm and lasted too long, though I admit to liking the early taste of spring. However,  I was becoming concerned that the trees would start to respond in bud too early or that there would be an unusual insect hatch; it was that warm.

Often after the front passes in the winter, when the winds dissipate and the sky remains clear, the evening stars can be brilliant, particularly if the moon is closer to new. This evening was just so. Brilliant.

Orion rose just after 5:30 this evening, sitting sideways on the eastern horizon. I grabbed my small cassegrain telescope and sat on the back porch, where the familiar stars of his belt and sword came just into view over the top of the trees in the lower woods.

Just within the sword rests the great nebula, visible to the naked eye as a cloudy path among the resident starts. Though my modest telescope, the nebula takes up the field of view as a milky white and ethereal cloud, with numerous stars within.

I sat for a minute or so, letting my eyes adjust to the dark, looking at the nebula and allowing my mind to wander. The image looked winter-like, with shades of whites among the blackness of space and stars strewn throughout like snowfall collected on the pine boughs in the woods below.