ISS

It's been clear weather the last few days in Vancouver, after about a month of mostly rain. Yesterday when I got home from work I let our dog Tannah out into the backyard. As I waited for her, my gaze rose above the houses across the lane to admire the intermediate blueness of dusk.

I seem to forget every year how early the sun sets in early December around here. I noticed a bright dot near the bottom of my frame of observation and assumed it was a plane. And it was...sort of. As I watched its graceful arc across the evening dome above me I realized it was the International Space Station. I've seen it a few times in the last few years but it's always an event for me, and if I'm able (i.e., not driving) I stop to watch it. It lasted from about 5:17 p.m. when I first noticed it, to about 5:22 when it disappeared over the trees on the east side of my street.

Then just for confirmation, after returning from walking our dog on her customary laps around the block after work, I heard Stephen Quinn announce on CBC that a listener had just emailed him a photo of the ISS gliding over East Van (with an arrow, of course, to identify the appropriate reflective dot).