The year is coming to a close and I begin to reflect on what was and what could have been while starting to think thoughts of next year. The main topic of aggravation this year seemed to be my constant battle with mother nature and her influence to disrupt my night time adventures. I do not remember so many cloudy nights in years past as there was during the period of monthly Milky Way desires this year. We were graced with the aurora in New Jersey and I totally missed it. The comical side note to that was when I was at Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania in October and thinking my camera/lens was broken. I could not get rid of this purple color in the right side of the frame.
I came to find out a few days later when I was back home and the sky was purple that it was the aurora gracing my photos. Had No Idea. We cannot change what has happened, we can only appreciate the learning opportunities that are presented to us. Within the park some of the areas were under construction so I did not even go into it, but I did not need to. I had a great vantage point from my little cabin.
I only did a little bit of exploring, venturing over to Leonard Harrison and Colton Point State Parks for a couple of short hikes. Even though the week before I went we had some massive rain storms, there was not much water flow going but it still was pretty and certainly worth a trip back when the season returns.
A view of Pennsylvania’s little grand canyon. The path at the bottom is fire road, great for a bike ride or a short hike. It is this bike ride that I discovered 30 years in EMS has finally caught up with me. We always talk about Paramedic shoulder, well, that is nothing compared to EMS back.
I still have not learned how to use my star tracker. This will be a priority for me getting ready for the 2025 season and will prevent this from happening. 20 seconds at 17mm is not supposed to allow blur.
Thanks for stopping by, I will have one more up before we are done with the year!
Phil
Twilight and Dusk 