Alabama Bound!

Hi everyone,

Next Tuesday the movers come to box up all my astro toys and other
belongings for my move to Mobile, AL. It will be a sad morning on Wednesday
when I have to start the drive towards the Deep South for my next assignment
with the Coast Guard. I will certainly miss many of the friends I met
through TAC-some of whom are still "virtual" but most I know from star
parties and Fremont Peak. My orders for Mobile are for 2 years, but they
could go as long as 4 years, depending on how things work out. After that,
my intentions are to return to the SF Bay Area if I can swing it.

There are many great memories that I will take with me as I leave.the big
star parties GSSP, Cal Star, and earlier SSP's [before the great riff of
2007 or course ;) ], and especially all of Dan Wright's wonderful breakfasts
at the star parties. There were also several Yosemite Star Parties,
observing trips to Barcroft for imaging at 12,400 feet, beautiful nights at
the pads at Fremont Peak, and many evenings volunteering, observing,
conducting Exo Planet research, imaging and just hanging out at Chabot Space
and Science Center; and sitting in on the most fascinating talks at the
astronomy clubs I was a member of-EAS, MDAS, Tri Valley, and PAS. In every
case, without exception, I made great friends and have a lot of very fond
memories.

My only regret is that I didn't get out even more! That is the best kind of
regret to have too, if you have to have one at all. There is a lot more
astronomy on the table here than anywhere else I have lived, and I intend to
come back to it in the future. This trip to AL is a little hiatus from the
area and not a permanent move. It will take some doing on my part, but my
goal is to return to Alameda when I leave Mobile in a few years.

This e-mail address will shut down by Monday evening, but I can always be
reached at bdrelling@No-Spam for the near future. I will pick up a new
address in Mobile and will be happy to share it with any one interested in
staying in touch,

Lastly, here is one final image. This was taken with a borrowed DSLR at TSP
this year. It is a stack of six 10-minute long exposures taken with a
Takahashi FSQ and a Canon 20DA:
http://gatorchaser.net/tsp2009/M20_median_adj_resize_small.jpg

Best regards to you all!

Bill Drelling

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