Mojo and I set our alarm for 4:00 am (11:00 UT) August 12th to catch the best of the Perseids. We set up a big fluffy down comforter and pillows on the back deck. This area is shielded from streetlights by the house. I counted 15 stars in the Great Square of Pegasus while Mojo counted a few less. Transparency was excellent.
Our view was from Cygnus to the west to Cassiopiea to the North. Directly overhead were Andromeda, Aries and Triangulum. In the hour we observed we counted about 40 meteors, half of which were Perseids. The rest were coming from many directions.
We observed a couple bright yellow fireballs which were definately Perseids. Many of the brighter meteors had wakes. When we were ready to come in -- the sky was beginning to brighten with the coming dawn, we took a look at the Andromeda galaxy naked eye and through 7x50 binoculars. It was stunning!
A Shallow Sky morning would not be complete without a look at the rising planets, so we went to the front deck, facing East and watched the lovely triangle of Pleiades, Saturn and Jupiter. A jewel-like planetary asterism.