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8 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | AUGUST 2021 By Dick Roppé, Resident Can you remember back to the end of December last year when we were induced into watching the "Great Conjunction?" Jupiter and Saturn would align for their closest encounter in 400 years. This event was also called the "Christmas Star." I don't know about you, but I was certainly underwhelmed! I suppose if you had a good telescope or super telephoto lens on your camera, this might have been an exciting spectacle. Speaking of spectacles, this month the annual the Perseids meteor shower will once again be visible. The shower can be seen through August 26 with the heaviest number of meteors appearing the night of August 11. The moon will only be 13 percent full and will set just as the meteors start to appear. You can expect to see around 50 to 75 meteors per hour. The Perseids is a prolific meteor shower associated with debris from the comet Swift– Tuttle. The meteors are called the Perseids because the point they appear to come from (called the radiant) lies in the constellation Perseus. The name is derived from the word Perseidai, the sons of Perseus in Greek mythology. Let's add a little pop culture to the mix. In his 1972 song Rocky Mountain High, John Denver - one of my favorite singers - refers to his experience watching the Perseids meteor shower during a family camping trip in the mountains near Aspen, Colorado, with the chorus lyric, "I've seen it raining fire in the sky." To personalize my article I'm adding two comet pictures that I took years ago. One is the comet Hyakutake taken near the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego in May of 1996. The other is the Hale-Bopp Comet that I took in 1997 – also in the Cuyamacas. On August 11, you may want to head out-of-town to a place where the skies are clear and dark, get comfortable and look north. The best viewing is expected between midnight and the hours before dawn. Happy viewing! Another Celestial Event By Theresa Rossetti, Resident Whether you've grown them yourself or have been gifted some by friends, here's a way to use some of the abundant zucchini around this time of the year without making zucchini bread. This can be good for lunch or as appetizers. Experimenting On Unsuspecting Friends Part Six: Ingredients: • 3 cups thinly sliced unpeeled zucchini (about 4 small) • 1 cup Bisquick (make your own, the heart-healthy one, original, gluten- free, we don't judge) • ½ cup finely chopped onion • ½ cup grated Parmesan (not that stuff in a shaker container!) • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley • ½ tsp salt • ½ tsp dried oregano or marjoram • 1/8 tsp black pepper • 1 finely chopped garlic clove • ½ cup vegetable oil • 4 eggs, lightly beaten Instructions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of a 13x9 pan. Stir together all ingredients. Spread in the pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares or get fancy and cut the squares into triangles. Note: This recipe can be halved and baked in an 8x8 pan as well. Cheesy Zucchini Bites Hale-Bopp Hyakutake

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