MY METEOR SHOWER STORY

I'd heard about the meteor showers to occur tonight and was excited to watch them, hearing they may not appear like this for another 33 years. It got me thinking. The first shooting star I ever saw was when I was but 8 yrs old laying on the lawn with some relatives I didn't know who lived in Ogden Canyon. I was more afraid of snakes and cougars, bears and wolves than this tribe of ne'er do wells so I focused on the sky. It didn't take long before IT happened. The brightest star I'd ever seen shot out and flickered bright heading straight to earth. It was the coolest thing since bloodying Paul Rasmussen's nose when he cheated in tether ball. Frozen in my brain I never saw another til my 13th birthday party sleep out with 8 other girls I'd just met in my new and wonderfully safe Foster Home. This time I was only afraid of garden snakes and Peeping Toms (had encounters in Kearns) so I again focused on the sky. It took a little longer but as the others slept and tossed, there it was! Not one, not two, but three of the most perfect shooting stars fell earthward as synchronized as the 4th of July!
Throughout the years there have been a couple small ones I've seen while driving up the canyon to go fishing or on a late night drive but none sparked the sense of wonder and delight. I had totally expected to capture that tonight. BUT...
I get my coat and gloves on and go outside at midnight looking to the easterly skies and wait..and wait. After about 45 min I knew I needed my polar bear coat to keep warmer so went inside. Now I haven't worn the coat for a year so it was deep in the closet and I needed to stretch my reach and as I did so my foot came down on a lost, small Halloween chocolate bar that acted as an ice patch and down I went into the closet bringing coats and sweaters and hangers down on top of me as I lay squished on my shoes and boxes. A few ouches and grunts later I backed up and out with "the" coat in hand. A bruised side, knee, hand and ego did not keep me from racing back outside to watch for the meteor shower.
Warm in my better coat with hood and gloves I stood atop the driveway gazing right to left in anticipation. After about 15-20 minutes I heard a low, calm voice say, "You move another step closer and I'll blow your head off!" Big pause as my brain scrambled. "Danny?" Another big pause... "Kathy? What are you doing out there?" At the moment it sounded awfully stupid. "I'm watching for meteors." "Oh, ok" was all he said out the dark window. I then decided how grateful I was for the internet and how many times I could watch the meteor shower in the safety of my warm, safe home and went inside.