Sunday, February 5, 2023

Looking for the Green Comet and Our first Art and Crafts Show of the year

The weather here has been about as bad as it can get. Luckily we did stay above freezing, (barely), but the clouds, rain, and fog has kept us from viewing the Green Comet. To keep ourselves occupied we have been making jewelry, buying rocks, and Renita had been braiding kumihimo necklaces. The day before our Blue Lagoons Arts and Craft show, the sun appeared, the temperature warmed up, and the day turned out to be one of our craziest day of the winter. Friday night we play a card game called Jokers and Pegs but instead of calling it a night we headed across Copano Bay to try to see the Green Comet. Dodging the herds of deer, we reached the Coast and found a dark sky. Our first place has changed so much that the lights from the bridge and a convenience store had destroyed any hope of spotting much of anything. There was a sight about fifteen miles north but instead we decided to try a new place and luckily we found a dark sky.
The moon was near full, and we doubted we would see the faint comet. Ever the optimists we got out the binoculars and scanned the sky. It was so bright that not much was visible, only the brightest stars of the Big and little Dippers. We spent quite a bit of time looking, Renita claimed to have spotted it, but I could not confirm her sighting. It was so bright that I did not set up my camera settling for a few pictures using my Galaxy S23 Ultra phone. The pictures adjusted for the darkness, were much brighter than it really was. We had also brought our best DSLR Canon camera and a tripod, but we never tried to take any exposures.
Returning home, we put stuff away and went to bed. It was after midnight, and we were getting up at five thirty so we could set up for the show. Still, we made it up in time to set up and welcome the other artists. People started arriving before opening, and we got so busy that I didn’t take any more pictures.
Our rv park is a small one, so we never got crowded but we were still busy showing all of our work. Pam and Roy, Renita's sister and her husband also showed their jewelry. Other’s included Zita, who makes decorated cups, t-shirts and hats. She took orders including ones that Pam and I placed for cups with our schools name and mascot, “Go University of Northern Iowa Panthers”! It was a short show, only three hours long but we were tired. We had good sales as did many others. We also bought some card holders from our friend Diana, maple syrup made by our friend Alan, and a Wyoming Jade slab from our friend Jim. It was a good show and now we are working to get ready for the Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Show! Its always the first weekend in March, and this year’s show is the sixtieth one. Clear skies

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