Rain!  God how I've missed it.  The smell, the air...  Of course, now I have to worry about tracking my wet feet through the house, but I guess the best way to fix that is simply to not worry about it!

I can't get home off my mind.  It's been so long since I've been back, and I'm missing it more and more each day.  I can't wait to get up to the cabin; if the weather clears up, there might be some work that can be done!  Plus, I'll get to bring my telescope and take it to the clearest skies she's probably ever seen!  That should provide for some amazing stargazing!  

Strange things occur in the city.

Tonight, as I returned home from a night with friends, I pulled in to my parking spot on the street by my apartment, and immediately noticed how remarkably well I could see!  This caught me off guard for a moment, because usually I find myself fumbling with my keys, or making sure I don' t trip over something on my way through the backyard.  Tonight I found my surroundings lit by some strange form of ambient light.  I ruled out the moon as a possibility, because although it does provide quite a lot of light, it's a more direct source (which means it leaves shadows) and whiter in colour.

I looked to the sky, and immediately found the answer.

There's a nice heavy cloud cover over the whole city.  And those clouds were distinctly orange in colour.  Orange like the sodium-vapour lamps used on every street in the city.

The light pollution which is normally lost to the sky on clear nights was now being reflected back down to earth, illuminating the entire street.

Remarkable.  Strange, I know, but I often find little things like that to be most fascinating.

A weekend of travelling through the stars!

Halloween is my favourite holiday.  As I say, it's the one time of the year when I can dress up however I like, and no one is allowed to say anything.

On Thursday, my brother and I dressed up as two members of the Serenity crew, Jayne and Mal, respectively.  I got to whip out my old browncoat (which I used the previous Halloween as my Tenth Doctor's coat) and suspenders, while I lent my brother the infamous Jayne hat.  We made a convincing team.

The next two nights, I really outdid myself.  Dressing up as the Eleventh Doctor, I had everything down to a tee.  Suspenders, bowtie, jacket; even the screwdriver and psychic paper made appearances.  Plus I got my hair to behave and look almost just like the real deal.  I even brought out the telescope for some friends and took them on an impromptu "journey through the stars."  I may not possess a TARDIS, but it was close enough!

Maybe it's part of the actor within me that loves to dress up and pretend to be someone else for a day or two.  After winning a costume contest at one party a few days ago, I told my friend, "the way I see it, it's not just a costume, it's a character."  And that makes it all the more enjoyable for me.