Venus in Transit

I was mighty excited to see the Transit of Venus this past Tuesday. I set up a tiny mirror on a tripod in our back yard, which reflected the image of the sun through our kitchen and down a short hall into my darkened office.

This is called the reflected pinhole method, which is a safe and simple way to observe solar events.

We had sun most of the day here in New Orleans. Michael, Therese, Gil and Kalypso came over for the viewing. Alas, heavy clouds rolled in just before our window of opportunity. And so in the end, we saw nothing.

But there were some compensating factors. At least we had a good mix of Venus-themed music.

And good cocktails — the Blond Venus, natch. We raised a toast to our distant planetary cousin.

We even had the perfect cake for the occasion.

Good tunes, good drinks, good company, and cake. It’s hard to be grumpy about the clouds.

After the fact, I can’t help but feel awed when I look at such amazing photos, which I discovered through NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Turns out my aunt checks that site out regularly too. Yes, she wrote back to me. In fact we’ve exchanged a few friendly messages. With regard to the Astronomy Picture of the Day, it cheers me greatly to think we are both appreciating at the same thing. She reverences a Creator, while I reverence the Cosmos, but hey — that’s common ground, isn’t it?