[meteorite-list] OT; happy fathers day to all you dads!

[Bill Southern]

Hello Doug,

You sent me to a place in my mind that I seldom enter these days with all 
that is going on in my life...

Thank you, Bill
http://www.nuggetshooter.ipbhost.com/index.php?showforum=4

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <MexicoDoug at aol.com>
To: <peregrineflier at npgcable.com>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2005 1:37 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] OT; happy fathers day to all you dads!


> Tom K. wrote:
>
>>Hey List, I just wanted to wish all the dads a happy fathers  day!
>>I heard a funny fathers day thing today;
>
>>"All dads want for  fathers day is some time alone with your mom,
>>so get the heck out of the house and let daddy have the kind of
>>fun he had with mommy before you came along and ruined  everything!"
>
> Tom, the way you put it - I know my Dad would want me to be the one left 
> IN
> THE HOUSE, and that He would take His ballerina to do the things they 
> enjoyed
> most, while humming the Barcarolle or another favorite under clear skys 
> with
> his  handsome telescope with that eerie purple sheen, perfectly aligned on
> "star-drive" with time to kill...
>
>        * *  *            * *  *            * *  *            * *  *
> "Doug, get your *ss over here kiddo!!, You're not gonna believe  this!!"
>
> Nearly thirty-three years ago, and I remember it better than this 
> morning...
>
> "A BOLIDE!!!  He actually got a BOLIDE!  We were just there in  the 
> Tetons,
> and this photographer catches a fantastic fireball in his  exposure!  What 
> a
> lucky b*stard!"
>
> Dad is possessed, shouting excitedly returning from the mailbox, madly
> waving the latest issue of Sky & Tel like it was HIS winning lottery 
> ticket!
>
> "Is everything OK Walt?"  Mom doesn't seem to be too concerned knowing 
> Dad...
>
> "Doug, look at this fireball!  It'll knock you off your chair!"   When 
> will I
> see a bolide?  After all those nights we go into the mosquito  infested
> swamps to photograph meteors!  And this fellow gets it right over  the 
> Grand
> Tetons!"
>
> "But Dad, that doesn't look like a fireball - Isn't it daytime?", I was a
> little perplexed since the photo looked like a nice day besides the 
> smoking
> streak which destroyed the tranquility of the scene.
>
> "Doug, this isn't a regular fireball like some of the small ones we've
> seen." (I still hadn't ever seen what I considered a fireball, which 
> already had  a
> mystic significance around the household, but I was ashamed to admit that,
> and  had seen many meteors during our trips to the dark).
>
> "Yeah, Dad it doesn't look like any of the fireballs I ever saw..."
>
> "Doug, this is what's called a bolide.  Bolides are fireballs that can  be 
> so
> big that they're sometimes brighter than a full Moon, and you can see them
> when the Sun is shining.  They leave trains of smoke and if you are lucky
> you'll see them exploding as they rumble by."
>
> "A Bowloid?  what?..."
>
> "Bolide Doug, get it straight - I'd give my right arm to photograph just 
> one
> bolide in my life.  Doug, you haven't lived until you see a  BOLIDE. 
> We'll
> keep watching - we'll see one, don't worry!  Oh, if I  could only have one 
> of
> these bolides rip through the sky with my  camera..."
>
> "B-o-l-i-d-e..."
>
> Dad continued to devour his S&T and contageously was heard mumbling the 
> word
> "bolide" all evening.  I was a little confused because I knew I was  just 
> a
> kid, but I thought I had been living long enough.  Still, I had  never 
> seen a
> BOLIDE, which now took the principal seat in the Mt. Olympus in my  mind's 
> eye.
> I was very excited because I now thought we would see a bolide  sometime
> soon...even though I had yet to completely digest the fact that a  meteor 
> which I
> always associated with dark nights, could be seen blowing-up  enroute 
> during
> the day.
>
> Shortly thereafter, we left yet another time for a trip to the dark
> swampland 70 odd-miles away.  I did my job carrying one tripod for Dad's 
> equipment,
> and then we arrived at a place he fancied, and Dad began his  meticulous 
> setup
> of the ungainly big camera mounted on his eerily glistening  purple 
> telescope,
> which had to be the world's best as far as I could  imagine.  I was 
> curious
> as much as impressed that when Dad magically  manipulated his equipment, 
> this
> would cancel out the star trails that all the  other cameras he also set 
> up
> would record.  I faithfully did the rest of my  chores - mainly to keep 
> out of
> the way and to be handy with the mosquito  repellent, and watch...and 
> watch....
> keeping a vigilent eye for heavenly  visitors.  Another night and 15-20 
> faint
> streaks later the excitment was  even greater.  But no BOLIDES yet...
>
> It's wonderful that Dad left a place of our very own to meet whenever we
> want, in the skies.  And you can count on me Dad, I'll be there with  you. 
> Maybe
> tomorrow, we'll finally get to live this time, maybe we'll see  a 
> BOLIDE...
>
> I'd give everything I ever had to spend another sulty-warm night there 
> with
> you and the mosquitos, Dad, or for just another moment together...
>
> Love, Doug
>
>
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