The Illuminated Donkey

Rachel and I stayed up until 5:00 a.m. last night to see the Leonid meteor shower, and it was easily the most spectacular astronomical event I've ever seen. My experience with this type of event -- whether eclipse, comet, meteor shower, etc. -- has invariably been disappointing, with clouds, timing, or too big a build-up conspiring to leave me bored and cold in the middle of the night. But last night's meteor shower was wonderful, with literally hundreds upon hundreds of meteors exploding across the sky like God's fireworks. I am very glad we decided to brave the cold and exhaustion to witness it.