A Comet Appears

Have you ever looked in the sky and seen something completely amazing and surprising? Previous to this year I would have answered that question with a timid "Maybe." Now, I can answer that question with firm "I certainly have! Not just one thing, but two!" 

It all started on November 16th. After dinner, Susi and I went for a walk with Cookie, my puppy. We soon realized that it was snowing. Naturally, I looked towards the sky and stuck my tongue out to catch snowflakes on my tongue. After a few seconds of this wonderful, yet childish pose, I realized that something was burning in the sky. I was sure that it was not a regular shooting star, because it was a foggy night, and we were in a very well lit area, so I would not have been able to see it. At first I thought it was a malfunctioning airplane. Then the flame suddenly changed from one flame, to several flames of several colors. The sky was illuminated with orange, green, and purple sparks. At this point Susi and I started screaming "WOAH WHAT IS GOING ON!!!" Then it occurred to me that it they might be fragments of the massive asteroid that had passed the earth during the previous week, so I started jumping, and screaming "IT'S THE ASTEROID, IT'S THE ASTEROID!!!" For some reason, no one around us was reacting at all. Susi and I probably looked rather foolish as we jumped around, pointing at the sky, and screaming in a language that no one understood, but we could not be stopped. I am still not sure exactly what it was, but it was one of the coolest things that I have ever seen.

I was completely astounded again, a few weeks later. Susi and I were going for another walk. About five minutes into the walk Susi pointed at the sky in astonishment. The moon was dark brown and looked absolutely amazing. Neither Nina, Susi, nor I had managed to learn that a there would be a lunar eclipse on that night. Susi and I ran up to Nina's room, rapped on her door, and said in incredibly excited voices "Put warm clothes on NOW and come outside! There is a lunar eclipse!" In no time at all Nina was fully dressed, with her camera, running up to the roof, which was unfortunately locked. We spent a long time just staring at the sky in awe.