Star Party

Friday I got up before 8. After the usual getting ready, I sat down to read some e-mail. I went to Jenni's house to water her plants. They seemed awfully dry. I also stopped at the post office, but there was nothing important.

I went home and Chris was taking a shower. When he was done, we hit the road for Tooele, listening to our book on CD. We shopped at the usual places, then went back to base. We stopped at the commissary for a few more things. We ran into the colonel who was not having the best of luck with the movers today. He said he won't need us until 5 or later.

We unloaded the groceries, then I went to the company house to get the laundry started. There was a car parked on the street and one bedroom door was shut so I think someone was sleeping in there. The second bed was stripped and another was covered in rumpled sheets. So I stripped that bed and washed all the sheets together, then left.

I went home and called Faye. She said to expect a contract by e-mail and to print out the last page and sign it. I made breakfast and read the contract. I sent a message, then continued eating. I spent some time in the sun , then went to the company house to put the sheets in the

dryer and to make the one bed up with the spare sheets in case he came back to sleep. The third door was still shut, so I walked as quietly as possible. When I got home, I read more e-mail, I jotted notes for my blog. I ate some of my sprouts. I went back one more time to get the sheets out and dress the remaining bed. The third door was still shut. When I got home, I cut a bunch of onion stems. I washed them and cut them up and put them in a jar with ginger, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, and garlic cloves. Then I heated a brine and poured it over them. I put the lid on and left it to cool.

Around 6, Chris left to go help the colonel and see about the setting up of telescopes by the Dark Skies people. The moving truck was still there and kind of in the way. At 6:30 I thought to have a bite to eat before going to the Community Club for the Dark Skies presentation at 7. But then I got a text from Chris asking me to bring a vacuum brush attachment for the colonel. So I changed into warmer clothes and just then he texted again asking for step stools to go with the telescopes. I gathered 4 and drove up the hill and went between the barricades to deliver

them. I took the attachment in the house and gave it to the colonel. We chatted for a bit, then I went down the hill to the Community Club. It was full of people. And people were going in and out from the conference room to the main eating room.

Dark Skies were giving their presentation on light pollution and ways to improve lighting. I sat in the near corner so as not to block anyone's sight. Around 8:20 the presentation ended and everyone left for their cars to drive up the hill, park near the blockade and walk the rest of the way. But Chris texted me asking that I bring a jacket for the colonel. So I went home to get it. Since I was hungry, I ate something and filled a bottle with tea. Then I headed out to the hill.

The line of parked cars looked long. I parked at the end and started walking. As I walked, I noticed breaks in the cars where I could have parked closer. Sigh. Chris came down the hill to meet me. We walked back up together.

The cul-de-sac was filled with telescopes and people. And a moving truck being loaded from the colonel's garage. I took Diane and Chrissy to see the panorama. We had a nice chat as it got dark. We walked back to the gathering. The light in the garage was annoyingly bright, but couldn't be helped. Michelle had brought some camp chairs for us to sit in. But Chris was out and about chatting. I sat with Michelle and Tonja and talked to them. Every once in a while I spotted an empty telescope and I looked through it. Orion's belt had already set, but we could see Venus and Mars and some galaxies far far away.

The event was open to the public so there were lots of people I didn't know. And there were lots of kids. Thankfully each telescope was supervised. Only one of the stepstools got used. When the colonel shut off the garage light, the lights on the truck seemed to get brighter. The temp dropped and I wished I had brought a warmer coat.

Tonja and Jeff left. Michelle and I went inside so she could use the bathroom. I spotted a drawer and medicine cabinet that did not get packed. The colonel had some questions about how clean he needed to get the window sills and base boards. He wants to come back tomorrow and have me clean in the kitchen while he works on the bedrooms and bathrooms.

So we went back outside. I stood close to Chris for a bit then said I wanted to go home. We loaded the stepstools into his car. The truck left. Chris stood around talking so Michelle gave me a ride back to my car. We carried another lady, too. She was from off post and Michelle tried to recruit her to the Dugway team. Then the lady drove away in her car and I drove away in mine.

I was horrified to see that it was 11:30. I brought in the tomato plants, did my exercises and went to bed. Chris showed up later and crawled in beside me. My mind went around and around and I could not sleep.