Winter Solstice- Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction

We climbed up the hill at the back of our property with two chairs, two tripods, one long lens, one short lens, binoculars, one flashlight, and two iPhones. OK, Lonnie climbed up with all that- I carried one tripod. We did this after sunset while it was still light and stood, wobbling, on the uneven rocky ground inside our property line and waited until we saw it. Lonnie spotted it first, much higher in the sky than we expected, especially having watched the two planets from our back yard the last few nights. I eventually moved down the neighbor’s gravel driveway (near the Private Property sign. . .) to be able to get photos that included the house and the Thumb. The photos I took with my long lens were not as detailed as I expected, and I much prefer the photos below which are little pinpoints of light. You will have to ZOOM WAY IN (upper right in the house photo and upper left on the Thumb photo) to see it. I took some iPhone shots, which I’ll post later, that give a wider view of the scene. Despite all the stumbling and bumbling around, it was ultimately a thrilling experience to see this astronomical event- a sign of hope as we approach Christmas and the New Year.