Fly me to the Moon
Let me sing among the stars
Let me see what Spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby kiss me
Bart Howard
The first Friday of every month, the James S. McDonnell Planetarium hosts free outdoor stargazing and a planetarium show. Christian, a friend from work, reminded me about these events and Anne and I ended up going tonight. We saw Christian and met his family there. Although the moon was a little too full for good stargazing, the clear Saint Louis skies and balmy temperatures that had topped 70 °F in the afternoon, made this too good an opportunity to miss. Several, large telescopes were erected on the archery field, which fortunately was not in use. I got to see Jupiter and its moons and Anne saw Venus too.
Blue Moon
You saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue Moon
Lorenz Hart
Everyone trooped into the planetarium next. Gone was the high-backed cushy theater seating of memory. In its place were a few rows of stackable chairs and stacks of floor mats. We should have snagged a couple of floor mats, but elected the chairs instead. The picture of the planetarium projector looks to me like a cross between one of Dr. Who’s Daleks and a Sentinel from “The Matrix”. It took me a while to figure out that the stars in the projector picture are refractions off the many lenses, from the camera’s flash.
Moon river, wider than a mile
I’m crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way
Johnny Mercer
The planetarium speaker had a very soothing voice and we were in the dark for about an hour, so maybe not choosing one of the mats was a good idea. More than a few proto-engineers and proto-scientists fell prey to his discussion of proto-stars. Afterwards, we had Thai satay chicken pizza in the Loop. Dinnertime conversation was a bit lax, what with the two of us, still being lost in space.
Star Light Star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.