The Binculars

The Binoculars

John was as excited as any eight-year old boy could be when he opened up the birthday present that contained the binoculars.
“Wow, this is cool! Thank you Mom and Dad.” he said as he gave both of them a big hug.
“Now you can take them with you then we go on hikes in the mountains, or look at the moon and stars in the night sky, or when there are airplanes flying overhead,” replied his dad.
In the middle of the night, John and his dad left on a fishing trip, meeting his uncle and cousin at their favorite lake. It was about 3:15 am in the morning when John’s dad stopped their truck at a scenic viewpoint along the highway. This spot was far away from any city or town, and It was a moonless night so the stars where out.
“John, wake up. Let’s go look at the stars for a while. ‘Said his dad.
“Aw do we have to I want to sleep.”
“Oh come on, John. Where is your sense of adventure?”
“Oh alright.”
“Come on. This will be fun. Get your binoculars.”
John got out of the pickup with his dad. The crickets chirped in the distance and he thought he heard an animal of some kind close by.
From three hundred feet away a young cougar watched from a grove of trees. Summer forest fires had driven many wild animals from the mountains.
John’s dad set up the tripod and John mounted the binoculars on the tripod.
For a minute, John and his dad just stood there awestruck looking at the night sky and all those stars.
Finally, John’s dad said, “This is really a sight to behold, isn’t. it”
“It sure is,” replied John.
“Ok John, where shall we start? Do you know where the North Star is?”
“Not really.” John replied.
The cougar started to move stealth-fully closer to John and his dad.
“See the Big Dipper, there?”
“Yeah”
“Those two end stars there are called pointer stars. Now go five times the distance between those two stars, and there is the North Star.”
“Ok, it’s not the brightest star is it?”
“No it’s not, but people have been using it for a long time to find their way around. See the third star down the handle of the Big Dipper?”
John moved the binoculars to the position.
“That is the double star. Mizar and Alcor.”
John looked though the binoculars and sure enough, there where two stars.
“Oh” replied” John.
Moving silently the cougar was now fifty feet from the two.
John saw a fast moving light pass overhead, then disappear.
“What was that?”
“A satellite most likely.”
“Oh cool!”

“See that W-shaped group of stars opposite the Big Dipper there? That is called, Cassiopeia. Every night Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper move opposite each other around the North Star. The name Cassiopeia is after an African Queen.”
Creeping ever closer in the shadows the big cat is now twenty-five feet away, just out of their range of view.
“Ok, Dad can we go now I’m getting sleepy.”
“We should be going; dawn will be here soon. Let’s go and eat breakfast. We can look at the stars again tonight.”
John takes the binoculars off the tripod, and John’s dad puts the tripod in the back of the truck.
Couching just fifteen feet away his tail twitching, the cougar watches, choosing which one he pounce on.
John and his dad got back in the truck, the engine started, and they were again on their way.
Disappointed the cougar goes back to the grove of trees; for he had not eaten in three days.