Philly - Quality of Life Upgrades and Surprise Engagements

So by this time in my new nomadic life, I had come to realize that a few creature comforts were in order. For starters, I needed to replace my standard camping chair with one that would not crunch my neck into debilitating pain should I need to sit out a rainstorm for a few hours. I tried out the astronomer's chair at Staunton River State Park and decided that a hammock chair was for me. So I ordered one to be delivered to my son's house in Philly along with a pair of pants thin enough to remain cool while hiking long distances, but thick enough to foil the mosquitoes lusting for my blood. 

I always enjoy hanging out with my son and his wife. Their Philly row home near the Art museum is lovely and peaceful. Two cats, plenty of houseplants and a window box spilling with flowers and they are both super pleasant and funny people. My son and I generally take long walks along the Schuylkill River and we did that. He treated me to lunch at a lovely French restaurant downtown across from Rittenhouse Square. And he took me to buy a new iPhone and a Macbook air as my old laptop was heavy and janked up and about to fail for several reasons. The he spent a solid day programming my phone and moving what I needed from my old laptop to new one which would be light and compact enough to carry in my backpack.

Just a quick story I remembered when thinking about the hammock chair. The volunteer astronomer at Staunton River State Park, Luke has been delighting visitors for years and is close to the Rangers there. They call him when all of the telescopes have been borrowed by campers as it's clear there is an interest in the night skies and out he comes with his super-duper homemade telescope and proceeds to show folks jaw-dropping images of the night's stellar attractions. So in late Fall, the Park received a call from a young man who had "named" a star for his girlfriend, going through some organization that gives out certifications of same, and he wanted Luke to find it in the sky. Then on a designated night he would bring out his girlfriend and once the star was within the lens, he planned to propose. A ranger agreed to be on hand as well to photograph the magic moment. It took Luke awhile to find it on his practice runs, but he was fairly confident he could find it again on Proposal Night. Well, when the night arrived, it was cold. His girlfriend was wearing a short dress, but reports have it that she remained in good spirits. The star rose rather late and it took a while to find it. The sky was patchy with clouds. In the meadow below stood Luke the astronomer, a ranger, the couple searching for the star and a random couple. The random couple was unaware of the pending engagement, but had spread out a blanket and quietly watched while Luke focused in. Now Luke was only waiting for a cloud to pass before the view was clear.  The random man approached the ranger and asked if she would photograph his girlfriend and him. She agreed. 

For lack of much else to do, everyone was watching as man dropped to his knees and proposed to the girl!