Bryan Wild's Visit

  It's been about 60 years in the making but when Bryan Wild turned into Pinehaven's driveway, our pen pal relationship became personal.

 First, read about how I searched for Bryan in 2011 without result and how, in 2023 he found me. Click here for those background stories.

 Now just 21 months later. we've met face-to-face.

 Here's the story of the last five days ...

 Bryan arrived here from Ontario, Canada on Wednesday, October 16 at about 5:30 PM. He drove a rented Volkswagen Jetta.

 When he walked into the house for the first time he was met by our resident barker - our miniature schnauzer named Parker. She never stopped barking any time he stood up to move, but always with her stubby tail wagging.

Our guard dog and Bryan

 That evening Bryan and I went outside about 7:30 PM and took pictures of the comet. Afterwards I took a night shot of Pinehaven. This would have been at about 8:30 PM.

 We don't live that exciting a life here but Bryan settled right in that evening and watched TV with us.

 Thursday afternoon (10/17) we had a late lunch at Ron's Restaurant in Brookville, Ohio. It's an all-you-can-eat buffet and I got started with this salad.

The Beatles on a mural on a downtown  Miamisburg building

 

A trip to Miamisburg followed. We visited Hillgrove Cemetery  where Bryan stopped by Mom and Dad's grave (and eventually mine).  I also showed him where I lived when we were pen pals in the 1960's. Sadly the neighborhood has taken a serious turn for the worse and it no longer looks like it did sixty years ago. It's hard to imagine it's even the same house. We then took a walking tour of downtown Miamisburg. It, on the other hand, is greatly improved from when I was a teen.

 Then to the Miamisburg Mound. We climbed to the top and took these pictures there.

 A man visiting from Anchorage, Alaska took these shots of Bryan and I.

Bryan Wild (l) and Eric Oda

 On Friday (10/18) we had our usual "Y-Friday" with Eric Oda and while Tom, Eric and I exercised, Bryan walked to the Oregon District for a cup of coffee. Afterward we ate at the the Legacy Pancake House in West Carrollton (pix above and below).

Bill Schmidt (l) and Tom Buhler

 I ordered the cheese omelette.

Bryan pays his bill at the Legacy.

 That afternoon I made a pecan pie. Bryan made a request for two things: a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie. He had never had either. He preferred the pumpkin. 

 Saturday (10/19) we had our usual breakfast at the Dixie Diner in New Lebanon and then came home to play cards with Bob.

 Later that morning we drove to the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton. We arrived about 11:30 am and stayed about three hours.

 A piece of the Berlin Wall with graffiti.

 Their rockets were impressive but both Tom and I are confirmed pacifists.

 The Air Force One that took President Kennedy to Dallas and brought his body home on November 22, 1963. Bryan and I were writing at the time of the assassination.

 President Harry Truman's plane.

 1940's aviation technology in the cockpit.

 Tom inside The Independence. The aisles are very narrow!

 This is a mock-up of  the gondola Capt. Joseph Kittinger made his historic parachute jump from. I met Kittinger in 2011 and did a story for the Dayton Daily News. My blog entry is found here.

 The space program has always interested me. Here's Apollo 14.

 I saw the next in line - Apollo 15 - when I visited the museum in 2013 with Eric Oda. The blog is here. And I saw Apollo 11 in Cincinnati with Tom. Click here for that  blog.

 A Gemini mock-up.

 The reentry end of the Gemini capsule.

 Bryan standing before a Mercury capsule.

 A satellite. I think this was an advance warning device.

That evening we drove to The Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Dayton for a bon voyage meal.

 But all good things have to end and with sunrise on Sunday (10/20) Bryan was readying to hit the road to Niagara Falls (Canadian side) where he had a morel room rented. Tomorrow he'll spend much of the day there, then travel on to Belleville in Ontario, Canada to meet up again with Sandra (he was there when  he left to visit us). So a long trip with be completed.

A sad sight ...

 Bryan pulled out of Pinehaven's driveway at about 8:45 am on October 20.  We were sad to see him go but had a great time while he was here. Maybe we'll visit again someday?

Finally, the comet ...

  I made plans to view Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) many months ago, soon after it was discovered and the ephemeris was published, I made lists of the nights that it would be best viewed from my location. I even tried one morning observation. But I have seen nothing ... until last evening. I suppose it had even greater significance yesterday since it would have been my mother's 99th birthday.

 I used Stellarium to plot the comet and watched as it reached perihelion on October 12 and head towards Earth as it began it's 80,000 year orbit through deep  space.

 Even last evening did not look  good. We had a cold front pass through earlier and showers spoiled most of the day. But towards evening I could see clearing moving from the north to south  and figured there would be a chance.

 At 7 pm I began checking. Nothing. But later, perhaps 7:45 pm, I caught the first glimpse of the comet with my cell phone. I never saw it with my bare eyes and that's probably partly due to my cataracts. But it is certainly not "the comet of the century" as earlier advertised. It is very dim here with Dayton's light pollution,  maybe magnitude +3 or so. Comet Hale-Bopp was much more impressive - and colorful, too.

 But a comet is a comet and is not to be missed.

 Many of the pictures I've seen are quite impressive but I suppose they are mostly "stacked" images made with great cameras and other  astronomical gear. I had only a Pixel cell phone and an old Canon digital camera. Even so, I was able to see and enjoy  the comet with them.

 I took  close to 50 photos but these are the best. Many are cropped from larger frames but all are unedited.

 As the comet rises higher each night, I suppose I'll try another observation session. But the comet is getting more distant every night and will be even dimmer. So I suspect these shots will be the best I can do.

A very new moon

  If it's in the sky, I'm watching it. Late yesterday (about 7:30 pm) I took Parker a walk back Millie's lane and spotted a very young moon (just 3 days old): only 7% of the disk was illuminated. In fact, in a normal shot, the moon is all but invisible.

 It's there but all but lost in the glow of sunset. I'll zoom in. The moon is at the top and centered.

 I doubt it can see seen in the full-frame photo but it was visible to my eyes ... barely.

 So, how young a moon can be seen? Here's Google's answer:

Around the time it is new, it is at most a very thin sliver and very close to the sun. The record documented observation of a young moon is 15.5 hours, and that was by a very experienced observer. To someone less experienced, it typically takes a day or two before or after the moment of new moon to spot it.

 In any case, I think this is the youngest moon I've ever seen.

 The moon was new on October 2 at 2:49 PM EDT. The view I had last evening was at about the 77 hours point. I can't imagine seeing it at 15.5 hours. I suppose that takes a telescope and knowing where to point it.

 Later - about 9:45 pm - I went out again to see if the northern lights were visible. I saw nothing.