Bleeding for the Perseids

Ah, another meteor shower. The Perseids aren't overly spectacular most of the time, although they do conveniently arrive when a parka isn't required. Then again, parkas do have advantages.

I spent ten minutes late Wednesday evening trying to glimpse a few meteors. I had some measure of success. My total count over that brief time was: one airplane, one helicopter and one meteor. At least the meteor was a Perseid, as determined by its apparent source in the constellation Perseus, then rising in the northeast.

The ten minutes was my limit, because I had no parka. That gave the mosquitoes ample time to locate me in the calm air. There is only so much blood I am willing to lose to see a bright (or in this case, dim) streak crossing the light-polluted sky.

The Leonids aren't often much better, although some years they can be spectacular, but at least they come in November when blood loss is a far lesser concern. I am looking forward to wearing a parka.