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

From: Bill Southern <Nugget-Shooter_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Jun 19 10:16:04 2005
Message-ID: <001401c574d9$411cd120$0302a8c0_at_yourkgohy9au97>

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@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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Received on Sun 19 Jun 2005 10:14:40 AM PDT