Thought I would go a little of the beaten road tonight. Here are the moon rise and set times for the next week: 

This is the week I usually plan to get out to one of my dark sites once or twice, preferably twice. Well, here is the forecast for this same days near one of my favorite dark sites: 

I am hoping now to get out either next Friday night or Saturday night as the weather during the week is looking hard and it is Thanksgiving. Saturday is new moon so either would work. We'll see what the weather brings but I'll have to dress warm as the low around 15 is even colder out in the desert, probably down to between 5 degrees and 10 degrees.  The good news is I can get there by 4pm, set up, and observe from 6pm to 10pm and then pack up and head home. You have to love late fall and winter observing!!!! We'll see how the dirt roads hold up. 

This led me to thinking what do I do when the weather is cooperating with observing? What do I do on those cloud nights? Well, sometimes now, more often than note, I just enjoy my family. My grandkids live with me and I love spending time with them! I also still really love and like being with my wife of 36 1/2 years, so we hang out and do things together. 

In terms of astronomy, here is what I do.  First, I make sure my observing session is planned for my next dark sky trip(s). I know what I am going to view and I have made my observing list in Sky Tools 4. That reminds me I need to do a review of Sky Tools 4 soon! Look for that! I also tune up my telescopes to make sure they are performing optimally. I clean them up (not the mirrors, my mirrors are fine and I don't think they need to be cleaned often) by cleaning up the wood, polishing them up, and sanding and revarnishing if needed. 

Next I check the batteries in all my equipment with a battery component I have that tests how much juice is in them. I replace the ones that need to be replaced. I then move on to my eyepieces and check them and identify if I need to clean any of them. I also spend time on Starry Night 7 to just play around and see how my next observing session will go and make sure I write down any tricky star hops. Between Sky Tools 4 and Starry Night 7 pro I feel comfortable when my next session comes. 

Next, I move on to organizing my tools and what I take out into the field. I am getting to be a minimalist now. I take out only what I need for that session. Finally, if the weather is bad the entire new moon period, I spend time practicing my sketching, usually taking one object a night and practicing sketching it for about 30 minutes using The STScI Digitized Sky Survey images LINK as a reference. 

If I know I am going after faint objects, I spend time looking at what others have done in observing, those that I trust and make their information available. So for me, a cloudy week at new moon may disappoint me, but I have many other things I do. I also do watercolors and pastel painting so if I feel I need a release, I may just work on an art piece during this time also. I adjust as circumstances arise. What do you do during those cloudy nights? Feel free to leave a comment if you wish.