From: mkennedy@head.globalcom.net (Marilyn Kennedy)
Subject: Last night on the Blue Ridge and no film
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 09:55:50 -0500
Hale Bopp on the Blue Ridge Because my home is in the bowl of the Massanutten Mtn. (affectionately known as the "kettle") to see the comet at night I have to travel over the mountain. To celebrate the beginning of Spring Break, I went up on Skyline Drive and viewed the comet on the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was so beautiful! Indeed I feel very privledged to witness something like that in my lifetime. And as trite as it might seem, I really have to credit PTK with LFS and LFM for awakening my interest in the night sky and space. Wish I had some of that film!! Here in the Valley and on the crest of the Blue Ridge, I have no problems of light pollution so I was easily able to view the comet, even without my binoculars. Viewing through my binoculars I was able to really see its tail streaming away. In the background you could hear a symphony of sounds, heralding the coming of spring -- peepers filled the night air punctuated with the haunting hoots of an owl perched somewhere in his tree, hopefully enjoying this awesome sight of comet Hale Bopp. It is these experiences that become the memory makers in ourlives. A budding amateur astronomer.... Marilyn Marilyn K. Wall Virgnia