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"A must see". "If you see only one meteoroid shower this century then the Leonid shower is the one". The haze clears. The subliminal messages are goading my weary body out of bed. The clock registers 4:15.

I pull on warm clothing in anticipation of the cold and step outside. My mouth continues masticating the remnants of a slice of bread. I look up at the sky but see trees instead. I amble towards my car. I get in, and I am soon heading out towards the back roads. A few miles later I'm on an highway running through sparse hill country landscape. I peer up into the sky while keeping a watchful eye on the road.

I see cars pulled to the side of the road. Hopeful eyes gazing heavenwards. I pull over. Step out and look up. Its been a while. I don't recall having looked up in a long time. At one point in my life when the desire to be an astrophysicist was strong I would gaze up every night in hopeful anticipation of one day being able to decipher the mysteries of the sky. I was nine then. Things have changed a bit since then. I see nothing. I get back in the car and head to my original destination. A road that leads up a hill which offers unfettered view of the sky without the distraction of street lights.

I muse that its quite likely people will call the cops on me. It's not every day that someone shows up at 4am and looks up at the sky. I reach my destination. I get out of the car and take my position leaning against the hood of the car. I use the sleeve of my sweat shirt to thaw my nose. The crick in my neck gets worse with each passing minute. I tell myself that I will see something for all the work I've put into coming here. This is probably the same mix of human psychology and frustration that goes through the minds of people who corroborate UFO sightings. Every wants to say they've seen the little green men and their contraptions for anal inquiries.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of light. I turn quickly to the source. Nothing. I wonder if it was the reflection of a distant street light playing tricks on my mind. Then again. This time a much more subdued version of the earlier occurrence. Within a few minutes the pattern is more reliable. Varying combinations of bright and dull streaks paint the sky momentarily. Leonid Meteoroids.

Half hour of astronomical sight-seeing later I get back into my car. My neck welcomes the change in position. On to the next heavenly body sighting. Wed night network television plays host to Victoria Secret's annual lingerie show.