Evelyn and Brent

Russell was able to come over tonight so I baked pizza's from Grandfathers for supper.  Once the sun set, Brent shot off some fountains for Evelyn by Ragnarok - kind of a mini-4th.  Afterward I decided to sit out at the west end of the deck and wait for the stars to pop out.  Good opportunity to run an experiment by moving the citronella candles Brent had lit over by my chair.  I put two on the deck to the left of me, two on the right, and one on the table next to me.  Persistent mosquitoes did get through but most of my sky-watching was done in peace.  Venus of course was the first I saw.  I read Saturn was hiding in the moon's glare so w/ that foreknowledge I was able to find it.  Found Jupiter near Spica.  If I could see Spica, Arcturus must be above it and I found that one next.  I wasn't going to see many dimmer stars for awhile since the moon is almost full.  Blew out the candles to walk back inside.   However, when I looked to the south there was red Mars rising.  It's truly spectacular being nearly at it's closest, biggest, and brightest!  Worth a look before you go to bed.