The Sky is Falling
Written by:
Aaron McEuen
December 2001
November 17, 2001 6:30P MST
We assemble in mass at the Salt Lake County Ice Skating facility. In order to
surprise Kevin Scott for his birthday, we have gathered to give him practice defending
his goal. For those of you who don't know, he loves hockey and being a goalie
is his favorite position to play. Ten inexperienced players or just 'ice skaters'
for that matter attempt to score against the infamous Kevin Scott. Thus begins
the night.
November 17, 2001 6:45P MST
We stumble on the ice, all carrying hockey sticks. This might have been a mistake.
Kevin can skate circles around us all. Oh no! What have I done? For the next hour
we either challenge ice or Kevin. By the end of the session, sweat and all, we
managed to break 4 sticks, give Kevin a run for his age and surprise ourselves
on how well we can skate. Holding a hockey stick, pushing a puck around and actually
score a goal is a difficult lesson in motion. I was wondering how I was doing.
I figured that out after scoring a goal and hearing Kevin mumble, 'Oh yea, I can
still program C code better than you!'
November 17, 2001 7:15P MST
Now comes the news that we don't have anything else planned for his birthday.
So we improvise. A trip to the local state funded liquor store, a few kids in
bed and we settle into the warmth of the house. 'What ever happened to the plans
to go see the meteor shower?' someone asked. Discussions followed. Is it going
to be good? Will it be long enough to stay up for? Well, Salt Lake City was clouded
over, so it's not about to happen here.
November 17, 2001 10:15P MST
Maybe we should drive south. Lets check out the weather on the Internet! Southern
Utah is clear, but it doesn't start to clear up until about 1 hour out of Salt
Lake City. We talk and debate. 3:00-5:00A peak time, that's early, or late, or
a challenge to be awake for either way.
November 17, 2001 10:37P MST
Cedar City! WWW.weather.com promises 25% coverage, at the most. 175 miles south,
3 hours travel time. Hmmmmmm! We can make it!
November 17, 2001 10:42P MST
Its been decided. WE GO! Pack our bags, the plan is to get a hotel in Cedar City.
Stay up all night and sleep during the day. Uh-oh! What about the kids? Wake them
up, put them in their car seats, (2 of them, one at 3 years and one at 8 months)
travel for 3 hours in a car, late at night. Insane? Yes!
November 17, 2001 11:12 MST
We are on the road! Wait! Stop! COFFEE! Gas? Ready? Set! Go! Now we are on the
road.
November 18, 2001 0:16A MST
We are about 10 minutes south of Nephi. There is an off ramp. The skies are already
clearing up. We stop and get out. We see about 5 objects falling. This starts
to look promising.
November 18, 2001 1:36A MST
We stop again to check. We are really in the middle of Nowhere, Utah. It is dark.
Clouds on the horizon look like they will move this way, they will, according
to our weather site. We see about 15 shooting stars!
November 18, 2001 2:15A MST
We are in SIPIO, UT of all places. One Maverick corner store. It's OPEN! Coffee!
One Chevron gas station. Closed. One Hotel 8 with availability! We are luck to
get a room. It's almost 2:30 in the morning. Move kids in, plop them onto the
beds, get settled.
November 18, 2001 2:32A MST
Kevin and I get in the car, we leave Mindy and the kids to rest. We drive about
1 mile out of SIPIO. Success! We see a lot, so we think. About 1-5 a minute. Not
bad. So, this peak is supposed to start around 3:00.
November 18, 2001 2:42A MST
Go back, get the wife, Kevin stays to watch the kids. Mindy and I drive to another
area 1 mile out of town. OH MY GOD OF THE STARRY NIGHT! Never before have I scene
such a thing. It is about 2:52A. The peak starts ahead of schedule. They are falling
at a rate of ~1 per second. At times, there are bursts of 5 or more. If you look
at the radiant with your eyes wide open, you CAN get the feeling that you are
traveling through a swarm.
November 18, 2001 3:53A MST
Go back and get Kevin. Mindy is done for the night. Kevin and I drive about 10
more miles south to get totally away from our 1 horse town that is already too
bothersome.
November 18, 2001 4:02A MST
No lights, (except one flashing beacon on a cell phone tower at the RANCH EXIT)
no cars, no nothing, just SKY. Car is running with heater at full blast, We stand
next to the windows to stay warm. It is a perfect, cloudless, 'the sky is falling'
kind of night. We decide to count, gee, who'd think of such a thing? I was told
800 per hour to be expected. We face our own section of the sky. We count! We
know that we will be in error but it comes to about 300 in 11 minutes. Taking
in account we can't see all the sky, and that at times, we just couldn't count
fast enough, intelligently, we come to the conclusion that this is about 2000
per hour!
November 18, 2001 4:57A MST
There is a seriously noticeable decline in the rate. Never before seen anything
like it. To be able to WATCH this rate of shooting stars decline, that fast, over
5-10 minutes, was incredible! We decide to head back.
November 18, 2001 5:12A MST
BED!
November 18, 2001 8:23A MST
KIDS! Was it worth it? Yes! Would I do it again? Yes! This sort of event, and
the efforts taken to experience, is up there with the likes of spending $1200
just to fly to La Paz for an Eclipse, only to be gone for less than 27 hours.
If I can say one thing, don't hesitate to do these sorts of things. You only live
that day once. You will have plenty of other days to catch up on sleep!