Yesterday evening Carol asked when the moon was to rise. I pointed it out over the East Bay hills when we were driving home from a party Sunday night. She wanted to see it again. So we went for a walk out to a nearby levee trail which had clear views to the west. No moon, it was still too early. I promised I'd look at it at night.
While reclining on the couch reading before bedtime, the moon shown down through a gap in the window and reminded me of my promise. I stepped out onto the back patio and saw a wonderfully transparent night with some altocumulus bands illuminated silver by the moonlight. I grabbed my 7x35 binoculars for a closer look. Scoprius was standing on it's tail, with just the lower curve blocked by a neighbor's house. Mars and Antares were brilliant red. The clouds moved and changed shape imperceptibly: I'd look for a while tracing the glowing broken shoals, then coming back notice they had been transformed. One small cloud had a wavy pattern to it, like sand ribbed by slow shallow surf. That apparition lasted for about 10 minutes. The moon itself rode placidly above the scene.
I dutifully reported what I observed to Carol this morning, and she was very pleased by it.
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