Last night, the girls and I did a lot of wishing.

For those of you out there in blogland who may not be astronomy nerds, last night was the peak of the Perseids meteor shower, the biggest of the year. And, as an added bonus, there was a unique planetary alignment as an opening number. At dusk, the crescent moon could be seen underneath three – that’s right, THREE – planets: Venus, Saturn and Mars. Unfortunately, clouds blew in over the moon and obscured the area before Saturn and Mars became visible, but I did get a few shots of the moon with Venus, the brightest of the three planets.

Once full night had set in, around 10pm, the girls and I huddled on a blanket in the driveway (the area with the broadest view of the sky) and waited. The three of us remained there, lying back and gazing upward, talking about everything and nothing all at once. With no street lights nearby to obstruct our view, we enjoyed the total darkness and each other’s company. Then, suddenly, a flash and a streak, and we had our first shooting star of the night. It was magical. We continued to watch for the next half hour as the meteors streaked across the sky in all directions. They were fast, and it was hard to catch them. But we had plenty of chances to make wishes, and plenty of time to make the memory.

I really can’t think of a better way to spend a night than under the stars with my two favorite girls, making wishes on shooting stars.

xo
Brianna