Seeing the Comet

Last night Travalon and I set out right after Night Prayer to see the comet. I had heard that it was visible right below the Big Dipper, and we could see the constellation in the northwest sky, with a smudge below it. I suggested we drive to Governor Nelson, a state park just a few miles away where the sky can appear very dark. Years ago, Tiffy and I were there gazing at the stars, and I said, "Wow, that airplane is really flying way up there! I didn't know they could go that high!" Tiffy said, with her infinite patience, "That's a satellite." So it seemed like this would be an ideal spot for comet-gazing. In the dark we missed the turnoff for the park, so we pulled into a subdivision being built across the road, which has houses but no lights yet, and I took our binoculars and pointed right at the Big Dipper. Right there in my sight was the comet, pointing downward with the long tail streaming up toward the constellation. I handed the binoculars to Travalon, but he couldn't find the comet (though he said he could see it with his bare eyes), and I couldn't locate it again through the binoculars. Forget about taking a picture of it - I couldn't even get my camera to take a decent picture of the crescent moon. But all night I had wonderful dreams about taking pictures of rainbows, and I kept trying to point them out to Rich, but he said he couldn't see them.

Rich did say I should be careful with my Tibetan prayer wheels, because who am I praying to? So I did some research and came up with an answer. The writing on the outside of the prayer wheels is "Om Mani Padmi Hum," which basically translates to "Ave, Lotus that holds the Jewel." And I think we all know who that is - Mary! It seems the Hindus and Buddhists have a devotion to her and don't even realize it. They just call her the Lotus instead of the Rose. So really, every time I spin a prayer wheel, I'm just sending a Hail Mary up to Heaven.

Here, for reference, are some shots of lotuses in bloom in our neighborhood:

And here is a better picture of the "floating" chairs on the submerged dock:

If I had brought the camera on my walk before work instead of my morning break, I could have gotten a photo of the cranes too. Both cranes and lotuses are sacred in Eastern religions, and I can understand why - they are both such amazing reflections of the Divine Mind.

Famous Hat