I received the most special gift this Christmas. My husband, Chris, was holed up in our garage most nights since November, feverishly working on a secret project for me. He’s never attempted a woodworking project before, but tackled this project with absolute determination. I’m a huge space geek, and have been fascinated with the night skies almost all my life. I’ve talked of wanting a good telescope, and it would have been very easy for my husband to just make a stop by the store to pick one up. That he spent weeks working on this for me makes it the most special gift I’ve ever been given.
Watching him get so excited about the project’s progress and work through difficulties and come up with ingenious solutions of his own was so much fun. My only disappointment was that I couldn’t be out in the garage working with him. When he unveiled the telescope on Christmas Eve, I was stunned and very excited. When I looked through the eye piece and gazed upon the moon – crystal clear and full of gorgeous craters – I started crying. We’ve already taken it out almost every night since Christmas Eve, and I can’t wait to get it out to a truly isolated spot to really see what she can do!
There’s just a little leftover staining to do, but otherwise the scope is complete and working beautifully. Now Chris thinks I should sew a nice dust cover for it.