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OpticsBlog – Thoughts and reviews of binoculars, telescopes, scopes, sights, and much more - birdwatching, astronomy, target shooting - pretty much anything related to optics, nature, and life!Friday, September 30, 2011Fall color, kayak paddling I love taking fall color photos both with my digital cameras and film cameras. Fall color season gives me a much needed break from my digiscoping with the spotting scope and hassling with tripods. It’s a far more relaxing and casual type of photography and nothing beats being out in the woods on a beautiful fall day. When that first great color day finally arrives in the fall, I head for the camera case, grab as many cameras as I care to carry and hit the woods. Nothing fancy needed, either. My small digital point and shoot cameras do the trick, but if I’m feeling ambitious, I may take the big lenses, too. Timing, though, is everything for fall color. That never changes. It only takes a week for color to go from great to non-existent, so when the fall colors beckon, time to grab the camera and go. If you’re like me, though, one great fall activity leads to another. Shortly after I took this pic of our dock and lake framed by a little color, I couldn’t help myself. I eased into one of the kayaks and enjoyed a superb fall color paddle. How could I not? Wednesday, September 28, 2011How many telescopes?If you read my blogs, you may well get the impression that I own a whole garage full of telescopes and astronomy binoculars. Okay, let’s just talk telescopes. How many telescopes do I have and is this typical for an amateur astronomer? Okay, I do actually know a couple of astronomers that have a garage full of telescopes and I literally mean a garage full, as in no room leftover for cars. That's not typical, though. My situation is more than norm. I currently have three telescopes and, yes, this is fairly typical for an amateur astronomer who’s been doing astronomy for any length of time. Also typical is the fact that one is a large telescope and the other two are on the smaller side for the sake of portability. Again, as is typical for most astronomers, it just worked out this way rather than by design. Most of us started with a small telescope for the sake of affordability and, once bitten by the astronomy bug, worked our way up to a larger telescope. Oh, yes, telescope size is one of the important telescope first questions to ask when it comes time to choose the right telescope. Absolutely nothing wrong with going with a smaller telescope to keep the price down, either, but my advice is to spend enough to get a decent quality small telescope. Do that and I promise your small telescope will not collect dust when you finally buy that jumbo telescope. You’ll still find that small telescope to be very useful and, key word, convenient to use. That’s why my smaller telescopes still see as much use as my large telescope, maybe even more. That, too, is quite typical. never discount the importance of convenience when using a telescope. Sharing astronomy with othersWonder of wonders! The weather forecast, the long-range forecast, at any rate, is calling for some clear skies this weekend. Combine those clear skies with the new moon over the weekend and the dark skies that brings and, well, I may just have the nearly perfect weekend to uncase the astronomy binoculars and setup & use a telescope. Okay, scratch the nearly perfect. I have some friends coming for a visit over the weekend and an observing session, looking through the telescope eyepiece with yours truly as a guide, is on the top of their "to do" list. Since sharing astronomy with others is even better than doing astronomy, in my book, that makes for a perfect weekend, the heck with the nearly perfect. For sure, there is an art to sharing an interest in astronomy with other folks, mostly a matter of scaling back on the techno lingo and concentrating more on the mystery and beauty of it all and, heaven knows, there is no shortage of mystery and beauty to be seen when looking through a telescope at the night sky. Proud to say, my enthusiasm in astronomy is contagious and I have started several folks on a lifetime of enjoying astronomy. I’m as proud of that as any skill I have acquired with my telescopes and binoculars. Monday, September 26, 2011Telescope size, refractorsWhen it comes to telescopes and sizes, there is no “official” standard size for any particular type of telescope, whether we are talking refractor telescopes, reflector telescopes and so on. Still, there is a size within a specific telescope design that represents the best combination of size, performance and price that makes this size more or less the unofficial standard of its type in the astronomy community. In refractor telescopes, that size is the four inch or 102mm refractor. A four inch refractor is definitely large enough for some deep-sky work with brighter nebulae, star clusters and galaxies and four inches is definitely enough telescope size for some serious work on the moon and planets. Just as importantly, a four inch refractor is still nicely manageable when it comes to handling and transport, not something that can be said when you move up to a five inch and, especially, a six inch refractor. No wonder just about everyone who loves refractor telescopes, sooner or later ends up with a four inch refractor. Okay, there is a matter of price, yes. If you opt for a four inch refractor telescope that offers apochromatic (APO) performance, via fluorite, ED and other special optical glass, you have the most expensive four inch telescopes made. Ouch! Not everyone can afford Televue telescopes, Takahashi refractor telescopes or Astrophysics refractor telescopes, true, but if you want APO performance at a gentler price, you should take a look at Stellarvue telescopes and Vixen telescopes that offer APO performance. Some great buys, here, at more affordable prices than the glamour brands. If those price tags are just too much to swallow, you can still opt for some much more affordable achromatic four inch refractors. These typically use longer focal lengths to help offset some optical defects inherent in the achromatic design, but performance is still quite useful, albeit not as stunning as in APO refractors. This longer focal length also translates into longer optical tubes and, hence, not quite as nice handling, but they still get you into the four inch refractor game. A great example and great value, for instance, can be found in the Celestron Omni XLT 102. Very nice lunar and planetary telescope with a very affordable price tag. Cold weather astronomyTime to start waxing up the cross-country skis? Okay, that’s definitely jumping the gun, even for me, but it could actually snow, anytime. This is northern Wisconsin, after all. It has been a decent summer - not a great summer, but a decent summer - for my astronomy with both the astronomy binoculars and telescopes. I had a few great nights with excellent transparency and those few precious nights made up for the depressing number of nights I had this summer when the sky transparency was lousy and everything - the binoculars, telescope, telescope accessories, me – were soaking wet and covered in dew within an hour. Darn that wet air, anyway. Oh yeah, I am looking forward to fall and winter for the sake of drier skies and better transparency. Dry, cold winter air makes for a better view in the telescope eyepiece than warm, wet and humid air, every time, plus no mosquitoes, either. Of course, winter does impose its own set of challenges when it comes time to setup & use a telescope, but nothing I can’t handle. I’ve been doing winter astronomy as long as I have been doing astronomy, so I say, bring on the cold weather astronomy. Friday, September 23, 2011Telescopes, clear skiesIt’s been rainy, wet and cool for the last week – quite a contrast to the very sunny previous three weeks. Now, these north woods bouts of wet weather are all part of living in the north country and, for the most part, I just keep right on birdwatching, kayaking, fishing, working my bird dog in stride and so on. If you can’t take a little wet weather and, especially, cold weather, you have no business living in this country. The only thing that makes anxious when the clouds roll in is my need to get out with the astronomy binoculars and telescopes. I can manage a few days not looking through the telescope eyepiece, but a week definitely has me climbing the walls. The good news is that it doesn’t take a long observing session with the binoculars or telescope to get relief. All I need is an hour, even less. That’s doable with binoculars and small, grab and go type telescopes and that’s why I own both. In fact, I have two excellent refractor telescopes ready to go at a moment's notice. I also own a large Dobsonian telescope for those nights when I can stay out for hours and stay at the telescope eyepiece until my eyes give out. Those nights are all too rare, but oh so special. Yes, it takes more time and effort to setup & use a telescope of this size, but when you have the sky conditions that allow you to use all the potential a large telescope can deliver, you go for it. Those are the nights that keep you going when the clouds roll back in. Right now, though, I’ll take anything I can get in the way of a clear sky, though. Thursday, September 22, 2011cheap binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopesDespite the fact that I can be extremely fussy about some features on binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes and digital cameras and tripods, I am, by and large what I would describe as an optics optimist. I adapt, quickly, to individual quirks on a particular binocular, spotting scope or camera and have only rarely returned anything because a certain feature annoyed me to the point of frustration. Oh, yeah, the optics glass is usually half full for me. (Talk about the ideal optics consumer :) ) I suspect this adaptability has its roots in the fact that I wasn’t born with an optics solver spoon in my mouth. My first birding binoculars, my first birding spotting scope, my first telescope, my first film camera and so on were all humble, low end, budget models, but, not having much for money, I was overjoyed to own them, all the same. Sure, I drooled on the catalogs that featured all those high end models and dreamed of owning them, someday, but I used what I had and I used it, hard. Okay, maybe my equipment wasn’t the best, but I could darn sure still be the best birdwatcher and photographer I could be. Skill was more important than equipment, right? Darn right. I still believe that, even though I own high grade binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes and digital cameras, these days. No, I’m not going back to the cheap stuff, but when someone tells me they can only afford the cheap binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes and they need help finding the best bang for their limited optical buck, I do understand and I understand it from personal experience. Wednesday, September 21, 2011It's the little things It’s the little things that can make your day. Works that way for me, every time. I just spotted a flock of Wood Ducks out on the lake through the binoculars, so I just got up to get a closer look through the spotting scope. Life is good. I feel better. No matter what else happens, today, that was one fine moment. Last night, I grabbed the astronomy binoculars and took a quick peek at the quarter moon. Not much more than a minute in the doing, but I went back to bed with a smile on my face. Hearing a Barred Owl at the same time was an added bonus. Yesterday, my young English Setter managed to point a chipmunk and that brought a huge smile to my face. Patch is developing into one fine bird dog, if I do say so, myself. I grew up working with bird dogs and I know a good one when I see one. Yup, my Patch is a non-stop, get out and use that nose hunting dog and just a joy to watch. I don’t know what either of us would do if he actually found a grouse, but I think we’d both explode with excitement. It's the little things. Tuesday, September 20, 2011Wildlife photography With wildlife, you never know. That’s how I would describe the reaction of wildlife to my presence when I am out in the field with digital cameras, spotting scopes and tripod, trying to get some good pics. For sure, some species of wildlife are more naturally wary of humans than others, but, at the same time, some of these very same species are quick to adapt to the presence of humans. The Great Blue Heron is a good example. In the wild, they are a very wary bird, indeed. We have one of these majestic birds that sets up shop on our lake, every day, about 100 yards from our dock. I would love to get a nice pic of this bird framed against the backdrop of our north woods lake, but, as soon as step foot on the dock with spotting scope and tripod, he is gone. On the other hand, the bird you see in the pic was photographed at a busy, crowded suburban Chicago park lake. This bird had learned to stand about ten feet from fisherman so that he could grab bait and fish that fishermen occasionally tossed its way. Never mind that there were literally dozens of people within twenty yards of the bird along the hiking trail around the perimeter of the lake at any given moment. As long as no one made an unusual or threatening move, the bird ignored you. I just stood on the trail, a mere ten yards, away, and snapped a shot. In fact, I had to step back to get all the bird in the frame. So much for an ordinarily very wary bird! Yes, if all I wanted was a pic of a Great Blue Heron, this is all I would ever need. It’s not, though. That pic of a wild bird on our north woods lake would mean much more to me. Other folks might not know the difference, but I sure would. Monday, September 19, 2011Harvest Moon nightsThe moon is in its waning phases, this week and that will make for some good observing with the astronomy binoculars and refractor telescopes for the next week, or so. Next will come the new moon and dark, moonless skies and then it will be time to wheel out the big Dobsonian telescope to get back to some serious deep-sky work at the telescope eyepiece. Oh, yeah, I’ve been itching to setup & use a telescope for well over a week. It has been a glorious harvest Moon, though, this past week, what with our clear skies every night, crisp fall weather, and, especially, no mosquitoes (thanks to the dry weather we’ve had). A full moon is not the best time to observe the moon with binoculars and telescopes because it’s actually too bright and produces too much glare to see a lot of detail, but when you have such a beautiful full moon, you really owe it to yourself just to go out in the yard with a lawn chair and bask under the glorious “moon glow”. No binoculars or telescopes needed to enjoy a full moon, after all. I did a bit of moon basking on a couple of nights this last week and enjoyed it, immensely. I was even serenaded by a Great-horned Owl one night and some singing coyotes on another night, so I decided to join in on the act by singing some of my favorite moon songs, though not too loudly for fear of starting a stampede of all our local wildlife. “Shine on, shine on Harvest Moon …” Friday, September 16, 2011Great telescope AND great telescope mount If you are not an astronomer, when you look at this picture, you will most likely comment, “Hey, nice telescope” and you’d be absolutely right. It’s a vintage Televue telescope, a Televue Genesis sdf refractor telescope and, like all Televue telescopes, it is mechanically and optically top notch. I am proud to own it. Now, if you are an astronomer and look at the pic, you’ll more likely comment, “Hey, great telescope AND telescope mount” and you’d be absolutely right. The mount, in this case a Televue Gibraltar mount, is every bit as important as the telescope when it comes time to setup & use a telescope, as any astronomer will tell you. What makes the Televue Gibraltar so good? Other than the usual Televue quality, it’s easy to use, plain as that. You don’t have to fight it, or spend time fussing with it or waiting for it to stabilize the telescope after you’ve moved the telescope. In other words, it doesn’t get in your way when using the telescope or break your concentration when trying to look through the telescope eyepiece. It’s wonderfully intuitive, as telescope mounts go. Oh, yeah. Great telescope AND great telescope mount. Thursday, September 15, 2011Opinions on telescope accessoriesIt still amazes me how some telescope accessories can make so much difference in performance when it comes time to setup & use a telescope and that’s saying a lot, given that I’ve been playing with telescopes and telescope accessories for over forty years. Equally amazing, though, is just how much personal preference is involved when it comes to telescope accessories and how you encounter such strong opinions among astronomers about the best telescope accessories. Telescope eyepieces are probably the biggest variables when it comes to optimizing the performance of your telescope and it’s no wonder that astronomers tend to buy and sell telescope eyepieces, constantly, and end up with more telescope eyepieces than they need. For darn sure, it's more than just performance when it comes to a telescope eyepiece. It’s also very much a matter of personal preference. Astronomers have strong opinions about eyepieces. I’ve been involved in more than one argument on the subject, let me tell you. Same with telescope mounts. When it comes time to choose the right telescope, you need to pay as much attention to the mount underneath the telescope as to the telescope itself. Here, again, there are performance differences between the types of mounts as well as personal preferences. I have very strong opinions on this one, but since it is a personal opinion, I’ll just keep my mouth shut and let you choose the telescope mount that is best for you. Finder scopes are another source of opinion in astronomy circles. I’ve used just about every kind of finder scope ever made and, in fact, some of my telescopes actually have two different finder scopes on them so that I can use the type of finder scope that best matches what I am trying to see with the telescope. That’s getting a bit carried away, but that’s personal preference for you. I am very fussy about finder scopes. How about star atlases, astronomy flashlights, digital telescope accessories and on and on? Yep, you guessed it. Plenty of personal preference involved, but trying out all these telescope accessories and determining what you do and don’t like is half the fun. Enjoy. Wednesday, September 14, 2011Digiscoping at the bird feeder I’m looking forward to my upcoming fall and winter bird feeding so that I can do a bit more digiscoping with my spotting scope and add a few more bird shots to my photo collection. Yes, I know it may be taking the easy way out to do my digiscoping in the back yard, but as I get older, I am less and less motivated to throw a birding spotting scope and tripod over one shoulder, carry a bag full of digital cameras and camera accessories over the other and then hike off into the fields. Been there, done that and I still have dents in my shoulder from the tripod to prove it. Besides, digiscoping at your back yard bird feeder is a great way to get bird photos. You are less likely to spook the birds and have them fly as when out in the field and even when you do make a mistake and spook birds at a feeder, they come back, quickly. In fact, many of my regular bird visitors at my bird feeder know me so well that they stay put, right on the feeder, as I refill various other feeders on the same pole. That’s how I got the pic, above, of the Red-breasted Nuthatch with my little Sony Cybershot. No need to digiscope when they are that close. Telescope accessories modificationsWhen buying telescope accessories, you sometimes have to expect the unexpected, or, to put it another way, you sometimes need to do a little modification to make things work, correctly. Just the way things work, sometimes with specific combinations of telescopes and accessories. My prototype Lomo 80mm triplet refractor and the Stellervue Enhanced 2"diagonal I use with it is a good example. The Stellarvue diagonal is excellent - as good as aything I have used - and has posed no problems whatsoever when used with my Televue eyepieces, alone. It brings out the best in these excellent eyepieces and superb little telescope. However, when I stick a Televue Big Barlow in the diagonal and then a telescope eyepiece, this refractor telescope won’t come to focus because there is insufficient inward travel on the focuser. This caused some head scratching on my part. Was it a telescope problem or a diagonal problem? Turns out it was the diagonal. When I replaced the Stellarvue diagonal with a 2” Televue diagonal, problem solved, because the Televue diagonal has a shorter length on both barrels of the diagonal. The Stellarvue, being longer on the telescope end, simply wouldn’t fit all the way into the focusing tube on my Lomo telescope the way the Televue diagonal did. I already have a home for the Televue diagonal on my 4” Televue telescope, though, and really want to keep the Stellarvue on the smaller refractor. The solution? I simply cut an inch off the barrel of the Stellarvue diagonal at the telescope end so it would fit farther down into the focusing tube of the small telescope. Had no effect on the performance of the diagonal, though and, most importantly, I can now use the excellent Stellarvue diagonal in my little Lomo refractor. Monday, September 12, 2011Harvest Moon September is the usual month for the harvest Moon, though I some years it occurs in October. The harvest part, if you didn’t know, refers to the fact that farmers were often able to use the light to harvest crops at night as the moon hung low in the southeast part of the sky. Now, then, it takes nothing more than a clear sky and open horizon to enjoy the Harvest Moon. Binoculars and telescopes, of course, add a whole new dimension to seeing the moon, but, for this kind of moon watching, it’s best to observe the moon when it is NOT full, since a full moon produces too much light and, especially, glare, to see a lot of detail in the telescope eyepiece. That’s why I usually just go out under a full moon, especially a Harvest Moon, to enjoy the view without the help of astronomy binoculars or telescopes. Unfortunately, with the moon hanging fairly low in the sky this time of year, my view of the moon from the backyard is hindered by trees. That means a trip down to the dock and the lake to see the moon in all its glory. Nothing quite like a Harvest Moon hanging low over a mist covered north woods lake, though. Friday, September 09, 2011Beautiful night with a telescopeWe’re on a roll with a week or so of dry weather, up here in the north woods. Days have been truly glorious with lots of sunshine and mild temps. Nights have been clear and full of stars, at least when the moon is not up, so I’ve had lots of time at the telescope eyepiece and also with the astronomy binoculars. Life is good. Okay, I didn’t say perfect. These beautiful September days and nights have been something of a problem as far as sky transparency. Warm days followed by rapid cooling when the sun goes down makes for a lot of dew and water vapor in the air at night and that makes for less than ideal sky transparency, not to mention dew collecting on telescopes, telescope accessories and binoculars. Dew control at the telescope is a solvable problem, but not much to be done about a sky filled with a lot of water vapor. Nevertheless, these early fall nights have been just so darn beautiful, dew notwithstanding, that I sometimes just put the telescopes and astronomy binoculars, aside, and just look up into the stars and sigh with contentment, typically with the sounds of coyotes and Barred Owls serenading me. There’s nothing quite like a beautiful night with a telescope, especially in the north woods. Like I said, life is good. Wednesday, September 07, 2011Old Televue telescopes One of the great things about good telescopes is that they last darn near forever with reasonable care and use. Sure, on used reflector telescopes, you may have to re- aluminize an old mirror to get it back to snuff, but old refractor telescopes are darn near bullet-proof. All you need to worry about on old refractor telescopes may be a worn focuser or maybe a scratch or two on the objective lens. No big deal, even then, because it would take a serious gouge in the glass to even affect performance. I just picked up this fine old Televue Genesis sdf refractor telescope, an ancestor of the current Televue NP101 and awesome Televue Gibraltar mount for a great price. Yup, I am one happy gal. There is just something so perfect about fine 4” APO refractor telescopes – not too big to handle, but still big enough to offer some serious performance on the moon and planets. That’s why I bought it. I have the bases covered for deep-sky work with my 12.5” Dobsonian telescope, but, darn it all, that’s just too much scope to drag out for an hour’s work on the moon or planets. Then, too, is there any telescope design that can offer the awesome image quality of a fine refractor telescope like this old Televue. Not in my book. I’ve never met a telescope I didn’t likeI’ve never met a telescope I didn’t like, but there have been some I like MUCH more than others. To be sure, not all telescopes are created equal. Oh, yes, I could rant and rave and criticize as some astronomers do about cheap department store telescopes and all their evils. For sure, I always try to steer folks away from these “too good to be true” telescopes at amazing prices with their complement of cheap telescope accessories, but when someone comes to me with such a telescope, already purchased, I do my best to help. The fact that someone has shown enough interest in astronomy to buy a telescope, trumps all in my book. The world can use more amateur astronomers and I’m going to do my best to see that happens, regardless of their choice in a telescope. I started with the worst of the worst in a beginner’s telescope – a cheap 60 mm refractor telescope on a shaky alt-az mount with horrid .965” telescope eyepieces and junky plastic 3x barlow lens. Worse yet, I had no clue how to use it. There was no internet in those days and what few astronomy books were available were just too expensive for a starving college student. I felt lucky just to have squeezed the $40 out of my budget needed to buy the telescope. Luxuries like astronomy books would have to wait. No, it wasn’t much of a telescope. You know what, though? I thought it was. I stayed out, night after night, sometimes the entire night, exploring with that telescope. If someone had come up to me and made fun of my cheap telescope, I would have told them to take a hike. On the other hand, if someone had offered to help and explain, I would have been ever so grateful. I eventually gave that telescope to one of my college room mates as payment for the rent I didn’t have. For all I know, he may still have it. Yes, that was the worst telescope I’ve ever owned as far as quality and performance, but it darn sure is one I will never forget and, come to think of it, one I liked more than some others, but I still have never met a telescope I didn't like. Tuesday, September 06, 2011Garage sale telescopesGot a call, last night from a friend of mine. She called to ask some questions about an old telescope a friend of hers had picked up at a garage sale for a bargain price. Now, when I hear about these telescope garage sale wonders, I usually cringe. Most of the time, they are small, bottom end telescopes that are missing the requisite telescope accessories and by the time you replace those pieces, you end up sinking more money in the telescope than its worth. In fact, more often than not, for what it costs to buy just the telescope eyepieces – the parts most often missing – you could buy a complete telescope, brand new, with all the parts. Worse yet, many of these old beginner’s telescopes use the now obsolete .965” telescope eyepieces, so good luck even finding eyepieces. In this case, though, we had a keeper. It was an old Coulter Odyssey Compact Dobsonian telescope. That’s a full 10” of telescope, so hardly a beginner’s telescope and it also uses current 1.25” diameter telescope eyepieces. On the other hand, the mirror probably needed to be re-aluminized and the focuser upgraded, but, for what her friend had in the scope - $100 - it was worth the overhaul. This was one of those rare garage sale telescopes that got two thumbs up from me. Glad she called. Monday, September 05, 2011No telescope can do everything perfectlyNo telescope can do everything perfectly. When I wrote the article, How to choose the right telescope, I should have entitled it, How to choose the right telescope for you. Why? That for you at the end of the title is a major part of the process of choosing the right telescope. What’s right for you or for me or for the next astronomer can vary, widely. That’s why the quest for the perfect telescope or best telescope is a myth. No one type of telescope can do everything we want to do in astronomy and do it superbly, so some decisions have to be made as to what we, as individuals, most want our telescope to do. That explains, in part, why so many of us astronomers end up owning several telescopes. In fact, some of us end up with a whole garage full of telescopes. Yes, it is nice to have the option of choosing a different telescope for different types of astronomy, but if you are new to astronomy, PLEASE don’t think you have to rush out and buy more than one telescope. One telescope, wisely chosen, will let you do everything you need to do in astronomy to get started. Just think in terms of the types of objects you most want to observe in the night sky, as well as where and how you will be observing and then choose a telescope that best matches your needs. For starters, also read my article, Telescope First Questions. For instance, if you will be observing in an urban or suburban location with a moderate to severe amount of light pollution, the name of the game will be observing the moon and planets because these objects are little affected by light pollution. Any small to mid-size telescope will do, nicely, for this work, and be convenient when it comes time to setup & use a telescope. Yes, of course, you could buy a huge telescope for use under urban skies, but light pollution will never allow you to realize the potential of that jumbo telescope. Okay, you’ve decided to pack it all up in the vehicle and drive to a dark sky site to avoid light pollution and see those faint fuzzies we call nebulae and galaxies in the telescope eyepiece. By all means, go with a larger telescope, because the name of that game is telescope size. Be careful, though. How large a telescope will fit into your particular vehicle and how much disassembly do you want to do to get such a telescope in your vehicle? You can get creative, here. I once had a 10” Dobsonian telescope that I managed to get into a Geo Metro, but I had to take out the front passenger seat to do it and then could barely see approaching traffic because the OTA blocked my view. Not good at all. Oh, yes, I would have been better served with another type of telescope and, certainly, a smaller telescope for traveling in a Geo Metro, but that’s all I could afford, at the time. Like I said, no telescope can do everything, perfectly. Thursday, September 01, 2011Birdwatching and astronomy at homeI always assumed that if I was lucky enough to retire in an area that had great outdoor potential, that I would take advantage of it by exploring every noon and cranny the area offered. That has not proven to be the case, however, despite the fact that we do, indeed, live in one of the greatest outdoor areas in the country. Nope, Bill and I have been quite content to stay at home, for the most part, making short trips into our small community, three miles from our home, for the usual groceries and other necessities. The north central and northeastern region of Wisconsin is a vast outdoor playground and we live right in the middle of it, but nearly all my birdwatching with birding binoculars or birding spotting scope, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, astronomy with binoculars and telescopes, cross country skiing, photography with digital cameras and film cameras and more has been done right outside my back door, no vehicle needed, no gas consumed. On one hand, I feel a bit guilty for not getting to know the area better, but on the other, I feel good for not having to depend so much on a darn vehicle when it comes to my activities and interests. I feel even better for not having to use a vehicle to get to a job. Thank-you very much, but I’d just as soon leave the car in the garage. What a relief to wake up in the morning and not have to depend on a vehicle for everything you want to do. Balance has been restored. |
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