PERSEID METEOR SHOWER SHOWDOWN - LAS VEGAS 2012

Las Vegas is normally known for its very dry summer weather conditions but lately it is uncertain what each day will bring.  The week leading up to the 2012 Perseid Meteor Shower brought monsoon-like conditions with thick cloud cover and occasional rain bursts. A few nights prior the clouds split open in spots teasing with views of Venus, Jupiter and a small red constellation forming a triangle pattern.  The night before the Perseid peak, the sky was thick dark cloud cover and light precipitation.  On the early evening of August 12, the night slated as the peak for the Perseids, it was raining off and on and the clouds moved around the sky clearing a patch and then quickly filling in.  By midnight it seemed a lost cause for Las Vegas viewing.  We headed to bed and threw in the towel, until… the phone rang at 1:30 am.  My friend Barbara was on the line and on the job!  'It’s clear to the NW, let’s hit it!'  We piled comforters, chairs and cushions in the car and headed out for the rendezvous point just outside of Redrock Canyon National Conservation Area.  At one time Redrock Canyon was a stretch from town but with the expansion of Las Vegas and the 215 Expressway that wraps itself up against the perimeter, the city is now encroaching on this once remote area.

The immediate concern was the lights of the city which could impair viewing but it was the only cloudless sky.  Our group caravanned up the road …the first turn off to Calico Basin was too narrow to set up, the next exit was the entrance to the Redrock Loop.  This would have been ideal in bygone days but now because it is a ‘National’ park it is gated shut at night.  We knew it would be the same if we continued up the road to the Spring Mountain Ranch area, so we opted to turn off on the side of the road and set up there…mistake!

The light from the city was not the only issue, for 3 a.m., the traffic on the road was like being on the interstate, cars shot by every five minutes throwing blinding headlights our way, not to mention the noise pollution that ruined the peaceful surroundings of the desert.  Coyote howls competed with the engine roars of passing motorists. 

Set up in the back of a pickup truck, we were ready to start counting.  We saw about thirty meteors total up through 5 a.m. with four of them being intense, but it was a far cry from the predicted one hundred per hour.  We were all pretty disappointed.

On the way home, mom and I hit Starbucks and witnessed the most amazing sunrise of melons and pinks with a giant butter colored sun hiding behind tall palm trees.  That was a good memory moment. 

Later I thought about disappointment and how sometimes too high expectations set us up for a fall. Reflecting on the evening…it’s always beautiful to be able to lay back in the open night space of the desert… but impatiently seeking more meteors in the western sky we missed the sky to the east where a crescent moon rested between Jupiter overhead and Venus beneath, we only noticed it as we departed.  Mothers and daughters of four different generations lay together under the glory of God and missed the opportunity to get to know one other in new ways, did we assume we knew enough?  And yet I would not have missed it.  I was glad to be there with my mother, my friend, and her little girl, aka wiggle worm chatter box.  It was not a picture perfect night, but sometimes when you step far enough away from what seems to be an imperfection, the flaws fade and what remains is actually quite beautiful.  Snuggled up against my mother in a pick-up truck, seeing my friend that I’ve known for many years long before she was a mother, now mothering her little girl, and her daughter with her head on my lap.  Perseids you were okay, but family and friends… you were imperfectly perfect.