Long ago, a friend asked that I arrange “a romantic night under the stars” for her Las Vegas-based supervisor and his betrothed. When I reported the plans I was making for a dark desert site, including a large telescope operated by an experienced astronomer, my friend asked, “What about a bonfire and champagne?” I explained …
Tag: Astronomy
Who Are We?
After I finally finished school for the first time, most new encounters eventually got around to: “What do you do?” Come to think of it, when I went back to school 20 years ago, I was old enough that people still asked that, so I guess it has more to do with being “working age” …
Out and Away
I was just 1500 miles into the initial 48-state portion of this continuing journey, when I stopped for a meal at a patio bistro on Missouri’s Katy Trial. The Big’s distinctive profile gets noticed, even where other bicycles abound, and a young lady at the next table asked about the bike. I explained the mobile-observatory …
Cat People
I was never a cat person. I still have a scar on my left index finger, the gift of the irate Siamese who bit me when I was four. And I was allergic to cats when young. I was allergic to many irritants, actually, but cats were among the worst. My eyes would begin to …
Welcome!
The Pedaling Astronomer Project began as an astronomy/bicycling-outreach/education effort focused solely on the August 2017 Great American Eclipse. When I set out in May of 2016, I did not intend to pedal beyond that event. But the project’s impact exceeded my wildest expectations, plus it was ridiculously fun, so I continue with the simplest of …
Pollywogs
The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words – Elliot Erwitt. An able photographer would convey that the tadpoles’ shallow pool was but a small sample of roadways flooded by early-summer storms that inundated the U.S. heartlands that season, leaving destruction and yet, yes, life, in …
A Good Story
When he realized the load I was pedaling versus the journey ahead, a new friend chastised that I had planned poorly. Conceding I had indeed scant strategy, I continued, “But which story is more compelling? One: I anticipated and prepared for every eventuality. There were no surprises. Or two: I had no idea what I’d …
Ghost Over Central Park
She stood waiting in the lobby of her building, shushing the nurse worrying over her – both giggling – devotion, each to the other, obvious in every gesture. I gasped, “Oh, but she is gorgeous! You didn’t warn me!” My companions had described her age, but little else. Childlike yet poised, delicate yet enduring, unpretentious …
Trace Encounters – Why We Wander
“Y’all okay?” It was a bright, postcard-worthy Saturday afternoon on the Natchez Trace Parkway. A steady north breeze pushed Southern Mississippi’s oppressive humidity back to the Gulf of Mexico, to the relief of all but the few Nashville-bound bicycling tourists for whom it served a challenging headwind. “Need me to come down there?” His voice, …
Aerodynamic and Metabolic Reality
It’s hard work pedaling/pushing a loaded bike up a mountain, but the mountain pays you back with an equal descent, right? Often the same day? (Warning: Math ahead!) But air is weighty – about two pounds per cubic yard (almost 1.3 kilograms per cubic meter) at the altitudes and temperatures where most of us live. …
