saw a fantastic display of aurora last night . . . thanks Santa!!!

ok, I cheated and caught it from the window seat last night on my flight from Paris to Los Angeles. Last minute decision to spend the Christmas Stateside! We were skirting the edge of Greenland at the time; lovely curtains of greenish-yellow light. Hope to upload some photos at some stage but they are tinted a bit by the navigation lights reflecting off the window glass.

couldn't really confirm if I saw Comet Machholz because of the Moon . . . beautiful clear weather here in L.A. so I might have a look in the 10x50s tonight. Heard it's snowing in some parts of Ireland!

all the best for Christmas and the New Year everyone!

John Flannery.

*jelous looks*

You're becoming quite the Jet setter John! Hope you have a great time state side.

Bart.

Heard it's snowing in some parts of Ireland!

Thats right John, a white Christmas all around Ireland! Its the first I have seen since I moved from Canada in 1986 - thats 18 years!

And you had to miss it!



Seanie.

You're from Canada ?!?
What was the weather like there ?

You're from Canada ?!?
What was the weather like there ?

Well, it is the epicenter of White Christmases (bar Lapland of course!). This year, talking to my relatives on Christmas Day, they had about 14 inches of snow - quite normal for this time of year! I lived in Hamilton, Ontario, about 60 miles south of Toronto.
Then, the blizzards would set in during January. I remember in 1st Grade, the school was closed for 2 weeks because of the snow! That same year, we had a terrible blizzard, I saw blue lightning during the day in one of the blizzards. In all, there was almost 4 feet of snow! Its no disaster area when that happens though. The city is built prepared for it. Not like here whe 2 inches paralyses the country!



Oh, they were truly White Christmases!

Seanie.

I remember missing a week of school during first year 'cos of snow. That was winter of '88/'89. My school is actually in the Slieve Bloom mountains, so that was probably a contributor.

When we were living in Japan we had around four feet of snow fall one night. School still started at 8.00 though, so it was a real struggle to get there. I checked Ireland.com during a free class to see how things were at home only to discover that the whole country had closed down because of two inches (INCHES!) of snow! Wimps.

BTW John, don't forget your sunscreen!

(Don't worry lads - I have a snowball in my freezer that we can shove down the back of his shirt at Connacht! :twisted: )

hi everyone,

er, I have to withdraw my earlier note about the blissful weather . . . it's been lashing rain in both L.A. and San Francisco (where I am now) since St. Stephen's Day! Not a star to be seen. :oops: :oops: :oops:

picked up a copy of the new Rukl's atlas Shane so I can loan you that for the review.

have a good New Year everyone (will be somewhere over the Atlantic for it myself!)

John