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November 06,1980 - Enjoying the Night SkySECOND SECTION The 61iffolh TMO Enioying the Night Sky 'There are advantages and disad- vantages of owning a dog, and most of us own a dog because the advantages far outnumber the disadvantages. The small disadvantages, such as having to take the dog out at night and in the morning, can often be turned around to your advantage if you enjoy the outside world. For instance, each night I walk the dog down in the pasture, which gives me a chance to check the weather and the sky for the coming day. It's a pretty good in- dicator as to what's coming up. It also has the extra advantage of giving me something to do while the dog is running. Just last night I knew for sure we were going to have a heavy frost by morning because the sky was clear and the tem- perature was crisp and, of course, it was that time of year. How the stars sparkled! and how friendly the old familiar constellations were to me as I stood there looking up. I have always marveled at the slow movement of the heavens through the seasons and the shifting positions of the moon and planets,once I got to know them. I remember when in the service many, many years ago; aboard ship on those lonely watches the stars seemed to fill the sky from horizon to horizon. The Pacific Ocean seemed to have clearer days and nights than we have here in the Northeast and spectacular stars at night were always there. I got to know Orion's Belt, Scorpio, Pleiades, the Dipper and many others so that today when I look to the heavens I recognize these familiar friends. Perhaps that is why I enjoy the outdoors so much. You can count on it always being there. Sun Blots Out Stars I had occasion to get up before sunrise this morning and, sure enough, the first task was to take the dog out. By the time we got out there was a bit of glow in the east which put out the lesser stars and left only the brighter ones and a crescent moon above. These too would fade out as the giant sun rose. Yet they're still up there and I'm told that if you view them from a deep dark hole you can see stars in the daytime. It's just the sun that blocks them out. Probably there are many others who get up early and have to do it every day and curse this early morning. But this morning that quiet and predawn light cast a spell over me and the land. I could tell my frost prediction had come to the garden in the morning, for I could feel it through my light shoes and see it on the grass. The horse trough alongside the fence lay in darkness, and to test for ice I plunged in my outstretched finger. Sure enough it broke through and cracked a thin layer of ice. Probably this is not the very first frost of the season, but for our part of the world it was. Reminders of Cattle Era Walking up back in those early hours I looked across the vast potato fields, now green with their newly -sown rye. One of the houses a mile away had just turned its lights on. Someone else was up, but still warm inside while I walked with hands deep in my pockets. How different it would have been years ago. Some part of this farm would have had long rows of corn stacks. This would have been the curing cattle corn left in the field until needed. I can remember John Wickham collecting truckloads of corn to be brought in for his cattle. What milk we used to get from those cows -- with cream half way down the bottle... and all for 12 cents. Right down the road from us there is still one of the old barns that housed the last cow I can remember around here. It was a passing era. Our farms phased out the feeding of animals some 30 or more years ago. The first to go were the horses. The tractor took their place; then the cows, and the milkmen took their place. In place of the cattle corn that was so familiar in those days we now see another type of corn, sweet corn raised for human consumption. The visual difference here is that it is much shorter in height and when finished producing is no longer stacked in the fields but disced up into the ground. Yes, there's a little bad in almost every good, but with a little imagination and thought we can sometimes change things around to our advantage. The next time you walk the dog at night stop and look at the sky above. Make an effort to become familiar with this wonderful world, and if you do, you'll reap the reward. PAULSTOUTENBURGH NOVEMBER 6, 1980 CORN STACKS - -A sight rarely seen today, for it marked an era of feeding cattle. Today we still grow corn but it is sweet corn for human consumption. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh a reactor Deposit $50 or more into a new or existing savings account and you'll receive an Americana Collection Dinnerware Club Passbook... PLUS A FREE 4 -piece place setting of Americana Dinnerware in your choice of three magnificent patterns. 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