According to my astronomy calendar, there was supposed to be a partial solar eclipse, a very slight one, right before the sun went down. So I got out my Nikon SLR, my cheapo 70-210mm zoom lens (the longest I own), my cheapo tripod, mylar filter, and my mylar glasses. Then about fifteen minutes before the sun set, I went out and froze off what's left of my ice-ravaged ass to see absolutely nothing. This is why I rarely even take my cameras out of the closet anymore. I took a few shots through the mylar filter, then went back in. It was so cold, if there'd been a total solar eclipse, I wouldn't have cared.

I used to do a lot of astrophotography, but somewhere along the line the novelty of sitting in the dark in a folding chair in the middle of a field in January while taking timed exposures of some damn constellation lost it's appeal.

The last time I really went out did any shooting at night was back in August when we had several days of oddly cool weather. I went out and shot the Milky Way and got eaten alive by mosquitos. West Nile virus was making its way west across the continent and I ended up with a dozen big, oozing mosquito bites on my hands, arms, face, etc. Lovely, just lovely.

There are worse things than mosquitos out there. How many times have I been freaked out by some rustling sound in the woods while I sat there in the dark in a folding chair in the middle of a field? I'd think, It's just deer. Or raccoons. (And the raccoons all have rabies in this area.) Or a skunk. Or an ax-wielding lunatic from the local asylum. Once a few years ago I was in the backyard and heard this noise in the woods that sounded like loud heavy breathing. The odd thing was that whatever was making this sound was several hundred yards away, and it sounded enormous. I thought, Monsters! Then I gathered up my photo gear and headed back into the house. I'm not proud.