by Jim Ster
We're done to a turn and ready to serve up here in Shingletown! But fortunately, last night was well worth the effort. The skies are incredible up here. We had easily mag 6.5 skies and was probably closer to mag 7. A 2 - 3 mph breeze kept most folks comfortable in short sleeves till way past midnight. While the seeing was variable from 7-9, the trasparency was a solid 8-9. I didn't stay up late last night so I'm anxious to hear from others as what the early morning skies were like.
Like the rest of California, we are experiencing some heat, the likes of which they don't see very often up here. Yesterdays temp were in the mid 100's and today it's expected to reach 107. Fortunately, the locals have turned us on to some of their favorite swimming holes and a lot of folks are heading down there for the afternoon. Some are heading up to Lassen for the day, while several others are enjoying some nice cool Fosters down at Big Wheels Resort. Pop-up shade canopies abound. The good news is that it's only going to be in the mid 90's tomorrow and even better for the weekend.
Like all new projects we are experincing our share of logistical difficulties. So far, everyone has been very understanding and cooperative in helping us make things run smoothly. I think we will have 95% of the bugs worked out by this evening and I like to thank everyone again for their patience whle we figure things out.
Yesterday we had a problem with people driving a little fast and were kicking up some big dust clouds. To remedy this, we've hired a couple of watering trucks to begin watering arund the site throughout the day. The differece is quite dramatic. Problem solved.
We also had some mis-communication with the generous people who are taking care of the hospitality area about the use of thier generator to keep the freezers with ice and popcycles frozen, but we've made arrangements with them to reorganize the setup this evening to move the generators much far away from the oberving area.
We had 55 people show up with scopes yestereday and we've had several more check in this morning. We've had a steady stream of locals stopping by to see what it's all about and I have to say, Shingletown has to be one of the most hospitible places in the world. These folks have welcomed us and are really going to great lengths to make sure we're as comfortable as possible.
Well, it's back to work. I hope those of you who can will come up and join us. The night skies are absolutly awesome.
Clear Skies,
Jim Ster, Shingletown Star Party