Ah, John, you and I would get along well. There is a book by photojournalist Jim Richardson titled
High School USA in which there is a photo of a girl sitting at an open classroom window, looking out at what appears to be a warm, sunny afternoon. Her face and body language show boredom and thoughts of being elsewhere. Above her on the wall is a poster of Andrew Wyeth's painting, "Christina's World," in which a girl in a similar position looks out into the distance. Jim's caption reads, "There is no greater waste of time than sitting in a classroom on a warm spring day." How I remember sitting in afternoon classes looking out the open window as a warm breeze pulled my mind away from the school work that was so meaningless.
And Death Valley is one of my favorite places. I'll read that book. We've been out there many times. The thing to do is to go to Dante's View well before dawn on New Year's morning and watch the sun come up. Do it either alone or with your s.o. No talking. Feel the winter desert wind blow against you, watch in all directions, and let it seep into your soul.
Then take your scope up to Mesquite Campground in the northern part of the park. I saw
DSOs there naked eye that are only visible through a good scope elsewhere. Only then do you begin to understand what the ancients saw in the heavens and the motivations behind their mythology.
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Although the book was done in 1979, except for the clothes and hair styles the life it depicts remains the same:
https://jimrichardson.photoshelter.com/ ... SjLHmpcS5w
http://archive.boston.com/ae/theater_ar ... ies_at_91/