I was bent on taking photographs of Jupiter - yes, with no more than a camera because that is all I have - but was disappointed to find Jupiter risen through the trees but surrounded by thickening clouds.
Down there in the valley between the trees is mighty Jupiter! Had I been able to magnify the image to 20x, I'd have expected to see the four Galilean moons strung out left to right: Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede. But, as you can see, clouds were already filling the sky at 9 p.m. and my efforts were in vain.
That's not to say that my time was not well-spent or enjoyable. To the east the moon had already risen and was causing the thin clouds to glow from behind with an otherworldly light. It was a gentle, quiet view.
In this shot you can see the newly risen moon over West Carrollton and perhaps in this small image you can make out the local cell phone tower flashing its two red lights just below the moon and to the left. That tower stands just east of Venus Road and just south of Hemple Road and is my constant nighttime companion year round. When it flashes its white strobe, it lights my bedroom ceiling with its heartbeat. How technology has changed even the landscape.
And yet the evening was calm and quiet. The usual barking dogs had stilled (odd for the rising moon is often the impetus to howl) and there was little traffic. Standing beside my tripod in PJ's, I only once used the shadow of a tree as cover as some vehicle threaded its way north along Clayton Road. I saw no other.
Otherwise the night was perfect. But for a few clouds I'd have taken some nice shots of Jupiter, I think. I'll try ... try ... again. It is never so much the doing - because then the hunt is over - but the quest that is the most enjoyable.
