Last night was the peak time for the Leonid meteor shower. Supposedly the best conditions in North America since 1966. It happens once a year, but every 33 years or so, Earth goes through a really fresh trail of debris from the comet Tempel-Tuttle, and the show is pretty great.

We planned to hop in the car and drive out from the city a bit to get a good look at it. There were blankets in the back for the sleepy dogs we'd be sure to have with us.

The weather forecast called for "considerable cloudiness" overnight. Still, we could hope.

We woke up at 3:00 am, Julie hit snooze until 3:45, then we stumbled outside to see if there were any stars at all, much less shooting ones.

Not one star. Certainly no meteors. Occasionally, a really bright stationary object broke through the clouds. I assume it was a planet, though I'm too stupid an astronomer to guess which one. Wasn't red, anyway...

So we went back to sleep. No point in driving out to the boonies to see clouds.

Here's a sample of what we didn't get to see.

If we can make it to 2099, the Leonid shower ought to be really great.

Or it might just look like a bunch of clouds.