Diamonds sparkling on velvet

After our incredibly fun Friday night, I wasn't counting on having too much fun the rest of the weekend. Seriously, how can you top that?

Got out of bed Saturday morning (hell, it was morning somewhere) and made coffee. Mmmmm ... reason for living. Had scrambled eggs and started to feel awake, so (on Kevin's suggestion) I called Amber to see if she wanted to check out Art in the Park with me. She did! We checked out all the beautiful artwork, and refrained from spending any money (although there were a few things I would have happily taken home ... and I'm not just talking about the very cute yet inappropriately young life guards.)

I was thirsty, so I got a bottle of water and we found a place under a tree to sit. And proceeded to wile away the afternoon. Getting to know Amber is like shopping at a really cool flea market - there's always something more if you just look. I learn something new about her all the time, and she gets more beautiful to me with every conversation.

We dropped into Caribou for a little refreshment, and rescued Kelly from work before heading out to dinner at Culver's on our way to Aimee's Birthday Fest on the Farm.

There's very little in the world I enjoy more than good friends around a fire. We roasted marshmallows and told stories as the sun went down, the sky in Zenda turning brilliant shades of pink and lavendar before becoming velvet and diamonds.

As luck would have it, this weekend was ideal viewing for the Perseids, meteor shower extraordinaire. So of course we got out blankets and laid down to watch the night sky. And what do you think a bunch of theater geeks do when they lay on blankets? They sing. With harmony. For hours.

I think "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was our greatest hit, but to be honest, everything sounded good. The night was magical as we "ooohed" and "aaahed" over the natural fireworks that tickled our eyes. Twice, we saw stars so bright their tails stayed illuminated long after the stars could no longer be seen.

Both the company and the "show" made it a night to remember. I'm so glad Aimee had a birthday so we could all share in the magic.

Addendum: Why Kevin and Jason are wrong

Here’s what I learned from Ask An Astronomer: Because we are inside the Milky Way, we can’t see it in its entirety. It’s like taking a picture of the inside of your house from the inside of your house and expecting to see all of it. We can see edges from inside of it. People (like us) in the Northern Hemisphere mostly see the outer parts of the Milky Way, as the center always stays close to the horizon.

So, you can see our galaxy, but (in my opinion) to point out one portion of the night sky and proclaim it to “be” the Milky Way would be like pointing to your sofa and saying “That’s my house.”