disappointed

like many children of my generation i was fascinated by space. my generation saw man land on the moon (or did we?).
like many children of my generation i did nothing much about this fascination, all it has amounted to is a love of science fiction.

sunday just gone saw me leaving the flat just before the stroke of midnight and wandering to brick lane to the little park that is on buxton street.
armed with my camera and a happy frame of mind i was out to catch pictures of the promised shooting star shower.

i choose a spot, i sat down. i prepared the camera. i took some prep shots. i waited.
the more astute reader will have guessed where this tale is going by the subtle title i have used.
the shots i had taken indicated that i wasn’t going to get any decent ones of the night sky and the stars that were out. blast. oh well i’ll do some moody night ones instead.

the radio had promised that there could be as many as a 100 shooting stars an hour at the peak of it all. not on your nelly. mind you the radio seemed to indicate that it would all start at, variously, 11pm, midnight, 1am, 2am and 3am (but never quite telling you if it was british summer time of greenwich mean time they meant). bugger.

so i sat. i would say i was accompanied by the ticking of the clock but i only had the mobile phone for the time. i was visited by mr urban fox (not quite as dapper as dr. liam fox, but probably a better politician…) who scurried here and there for scraps of food (a bit like dr. fox and votes). i was also joined by a chap who had come out to look at the shooting stars as well (and not to talk about badgers as paul suggested…)

although it was early morning you could still hear the insistent beat of the clubs on brick lane, the sounds of young revellers was accompanied by the heavy thud thud of industrial machinery and the occasional blast of an alarm to warn workers that something big was about to happen. the counterpoint of all this was the lullaby of police sirens.

the sky was lovely. the stars twinkled like little gems. the air was chill. i could get used to this stargazing i told myself.
so did you see any? i can hear you all ask yourself. well yes. not quite the 100 an hour, not quite the spectacular shower i was promised, but i got to see 5, which is more than i have seen before.
i got to see a fox, take some moody pictures, sit and relax. all in all a nice little adventure.

but i have to tell you this: it does get right nippy at 3.30am.