Fireflies at Midnight

Chapter 2: Father's Day

Greenwood Observatory, Jenny Jump State Forest. Sunday, June 19, 2005.

"This is the place," Peter announced, pulling up to a large two-story steel building.

Neal stared with curiosity at the structure. They'd spent the past hour driving through the wooded, rolling landscape of western New Jersey. The terrain had become more rugged as they approached the park. So far he hadn't seen the small town where Peter and El would stay, but he would tonight. El had made dinner reservations for them at the inn to celebrate Father's Day.

The only observatory Neal had seen was on top of Pupin Hall at Columbia University. "Where's the dome? Aren't observatories supposed to have domes for telescopes?"

"You see that row of side buildings? They're the storage sheds for the telescopes. The main building houses the classrooms, radio room, office, and sleeping facilities."

"This is much more elaborate than I would have expected."

Peter nodded proudly. "It's jointly run by all the astronomy clubs in New Jersey as well as the local colleges. There's even a maintenance shop on the premises."

"There's Travis's car," El said, pointing out his silver Saturn Ion. "And that SUV must belong to Janet. She said she was renting one for the week." Travis arrived at the observatory on Friday evening. He'd offered Neal the use of his car since he planned to spend every available moment using the telescopes.

On Saturday, Janet and Mozzie stopped by June's on the way to the forest and picked up Neal's bag and painting supplies. Neal knew Peter's car would be loaded. On the drive up, he and Satchmo had shared the back seat with camp supplies and craft materials.

Travis came outside to greet them and help them carry in their gear. Afterward, he showed off the radio room. Although it had originally been designed as a ham radio room, it was now primarily used for radio astronomy. Neal understood very little about radio astronomy but had picked up from Mozzie and Travis that it was the main tool used by SETI in its search for extraterrestrial life. When he heard about the observatory having a radio room, he wondered if Travis and Mozzie would spend all their free time looking for little green men, something he planned to tease them about frequently.

While Travis and Peter unpacked the camp supplies, El gave Neal a tour of the upstairs. Satchmo channeled his inner bloodhound and tagged along with them, sniffing every nook and cranny.

"I feel like I should have brought a duffel bag instead of a suitcase," Neal admitted. "Weren't you supposed to sew nametags on my clothes?"

"You're right! It's been so long I'd forgotten. When was the last time you attended camp?"

"I never went. This is a new experience."

"You didn't go to camp?"

El looked so distressed, Neal hastened to assure her it wasn't a big deal. And it wasn't. He remembered other kids had talked about the camps they'd attended over summer breaks. He'd hung out at the pool hall and the YMCA, spending his summers mastering pool. When he returned to school, everyone assumed he meant swimming, and he'd practiced that as well, but billiards turned out to be an even more useful skill.

Neal reached down to stroke Satchmo. "It's your first time, too, isn't it? We'll be newbies together."

"Are you sure you don't mind taking care of Satchmo?" El asked. "We could keep him with us at night."

"Sorry, but I've already claimed him as my bunkmate. He's also the official camp mascot and watchdog. Peter spent half the drive here lecturing me on bear etiquette and how to avoid bear encounters. Satchmo will be my defender."