I set the alarm at 4:40 AM, got out of bed, checked the sky to make sure it was not cloudy; when I saw stars I knew I had no choice, so I slipped on a pair of shorts and a T shirt, screwed the tripod to my camera and headed out.
I was scared to go on the beach so i stayed on the walkway. I realize that travelling alone makes me more cautious because should anything happen to me no one would know…or report me missing… Thats why I refrained from lying in the sand on my back. Instead I leaned against the bannister and looked up…
Now, if anyone stands with head tilted back long enough, the blood flow to the brain gets cut off and you DO see stars…which I did, plenty of.
Were they shooting stars? I am not so sure…I did sense movement out of the corner of my eye a few times, but my reflex was always to blink, and of course, by the time I opened them again, the star was long gone. It seems I was always looking in the wrong direction, either down to swat a moskitoe, or back to make sure no one was coming at me with a machete, or straight in front at a fully lit cruise ship sailing to Port Canaveral.
So that’s why I say that looking for perseids was like attending a baseball game: I was never looking at the right place when something happened…
I came in when the sun started coming up, went back to bed and slept till nine. It seems I missed the launch of Atlas…What did I say about not looking at the right place at the right time…