Waiting for the Comet

We had read just a little blurb in the newspaper that a comet "was coming," and that we could see it at dusk on two particular nights last week. Well, we went out the first night and were treated to a beautiful sunset, but there was such a thick cloud bank in the west that not even the sun could be seen even though the sky colors were vibrant. The next day was clear, and after supper, we went down to the lighthouse for a open western view.  A handfull of other folks had had the same idea and were out in the parking lot and continued to arrive. The bugs were bad! I stayed in the truck with the windows up and watched the bugs swarm out of the saltbushes.

Finally, the light was dim enough to see the crescent moon above the sun. 

As it got darker, the bugs seemed to settle down some.

The sky filled with stars and planets before anyone spotted the comet. It was beneath the moon and was not visible to B and me without the aid of a powerful telescope that was set  up in the parking lot. We are grateful to those men who generously offered us a look. The comet was streaking down toward the horizon, toward the sun. They informed us that the winds from the sun, that are blowing it apart, create the tail.