Perhaps too early for many the first of the morning hours, i.e., starting at 4 a.m. on November 16th, were a prime time to appreciate the dark sky at Valentine.
The Leonid meteor shower was happening. Most of the short tracks of the falling objects were east of the North Star with one near the Little Dipper. Another one seemingly took a dive into a pine tree atop the North Lake Shore hills. The sky-scape was a great place to gaze. A multitude of stars were bright, and represent light of the ages as it has taken a multitude of years for their steady shine to reach the sandhills. What was seen was not reality because of this lapse in stellar expression.
Meteors seen did not occur very often while my eyes were widely focused on the eastern skyscape. There was one temporary disturbance to a phantasmagoric view was the flight path of a blinking airplane travelling westward. A strobe of a red light of a tall tower on the north edge of town was thankfully low on the horizon so could be mostly ignored.
The plane was closest in the earthly air. Satellites were poised in place or brightly streaking along. The meteors were further away in the outer atmosphere. A bit of moon was to the south. And the multitude of stars were far, far away in the cosmos in every direction.
If there is one feature to appreciate for our community, it is the opportunity to readily appreciate dark skies, especially out in the big sky ranch country where anyone could get completely immersed in viewing nights of stars and constellations anytime.
My earth-bound perspective was at the northern edge of the Heart City, where wild turkey roost and horses walk about. The resident great horned owls were quiet during this morning time, but had been hooting a round the previous evening. Even the many Canada geese at the Mill Pond were quiet in their repose.