Years ago, I'm not exactly sure how many, we were gifted a telescope from my father-in-law. A telescope is one of those things that many people get and enjoy, but it's also a thing that can sit in a corner and collect dust.
If you've been following this blog for the past couple of weeks, you know we've been de-cluttering our home. You can probably guess what has happened to our telescope over the years. It wasn't used. It wasn't used because the small--and important--parts that make the telescope work, i.e. the small lenses you use that focus the object you're wanting to see close-up, were missing. They were put away and we didn't know where they were. Without the lenses, the telescope is basically a long tube on a tripod.
We even considered donating it to the thrift store.
But, that didn't happen--it didn't happen because my wife decided to clean up yet another room in the house. It was there she found the lenses that make the telescope work.
I couldn't wait to try it.
On the same day we found the lenses, I set up the telescope on the front porch as soon as night fell and an almost full moon rose in the east.
Finally, I could see the moon. My next goal--to get a picture.
I've been trying to get a good shot of the moon for years. I only had my iPhone cameras, my point-and-click cameras, and my Nikons. Nothing worked. I just got a big white ball in the sky. Now that I could see the moon, how was I going to take a picture. I ended up taking out my phone and holding it over the top of the lens. It took some patience, but I was finally able to get a good shot.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the whole family sat on the same porch watching a lunar eclipse and a blood moon. If we had only cleaned the room one day before, then the lenses would have been found and I could have set up the telescope during that amazing event. Oh well...next lunar eclipse/blood moon, I'll be ready!
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