A forgotten bit of space dust heralded before its fizzle but a wealth, a treasure for this son, sharing a memory of my father helping me, loving me
Up the ladder to the roof, watch for the edge, stay close feel the bite of fall, after dark attach the cable release, study the sky place the tripod push the button
Will it show? Will we see it, capture the tail see what the experts predict catch the magic of the moment on the emulsion of my film
He didn’t say, “I love you”; but thirty years later, I know he did; why else would he have spent his night on the roof squinting at a spark that never was counting down the time for the shot teaching me, laughing with me in the dark
July 15, 2006 15:22
Comet Kohotek - http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/mclark/c1970.htm, October - November 1973 - Dad and me on the roof of the Westfield (MA) Junior High School, with permission, and only Mom’s camera with the broken tripod