Brian E. Powers: Wednesday Evening In August

Every afternoon as the big white ball heads for the blue sea to the west of my lanai my dogs Duke and Shadow begin to prance and shimmy. They know its walk time and cannot control themselves. This evening as I reach for the leashes I look west and see a gorgeous layer of clouds about to create a classic Kona Sunset. I tell the dogs they will have to be patient and calm down as I go into my office and grab my camera. Seeing as how they are dogs they have no idea what I'm talking about so they continue to dance about like coked up...uh, dogs I guess.

I grabbed several panoramas of the beauty I see just off my lanai and then go about my duty and head up mauka with the dogs. Here is what I captured.

It was after sunset when the dogs and I made our way back home. A scoop of Purina for each and then I go about making a burrito like thing for myself. As I sit looking out over the dark Pacific I get a call from my next door neighbor Claude Onizuka, brother of Elison Onizuka USAF who died on the space shuttle Challenger. "Brian, the space station is going to be flying straight over us in four minutes NW to SE, and it's crystal clear tonight, thought you'd like to know". So I grab my camera and tripod run into the backyard and do a quick set up and look up and there coming from the north comes the international space station! Here are a few of the grab shots I got as it whizzed by. At a ten second shutter speed it just looks like a white line, but if you keep in mind that I'm standing in my back yard in the middle of the Pacific Ocean watching a manned space station fly over my house…well, that's kinda cool. There is also a satellite that shows up a bit fainter going the other way from the station.

Nothing that will end up on the cover of National Geographic, but OK for a three minute set up!