As I drove up the winding road to Devastated Area, I idly mused upon the current state of economic theory as I contemplated the El Nino weather patterns. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 42 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 47. It looked a bit like Gollum. Then, for a real challenge, I jumped to M 29 in Ursa Minor. It shimmered, as if it were that graph in An Unpleasant Truth. With that checked off my list, I stumbled upon M 9. It somewhat resembled yet another globular.
After a short break to grab a cheese snack, I studied NGC 4502 in Camelopardalis. It appeared at low power like a swarm of bees. Then, for a real challenge, I hunted for NGC 1379 in Scorpius. It glowed, rather like the eternal nothingness of being. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I hunted for NGC 3171. It gave the appearance of blackness. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I located Abell 85. It reminded me of a swarm of bees.
Finally, it was time to pack up and leave. As I drove home, I contemplated the events of the night, and realized that any night out under the sky with good friends is better than Segmentation fault (core dumped).