I remember well my first attempt to watch the Perseids meteor shower. I was in my early teens and decided it was something I just had to see. I had a summer job that started very early in the morning, so being the clever lad that I was, I set up an old army cot in a far corner of the yard. When the wind-up alarm clock went off at midnight, I opened my eyes to find the thickest, pea-soup fog you can imagine. I couldn't see my hand, let alone the stars. Had it not been for the distant rumble of the window fan, I don't know if I could have even found the house.
The meteor shower is a phenomenon that I look forward to every year. In about thirty minutes of star gazing last night, I saw a dozen or so impressive entries. I've seen better, but it was still worth the time.
It is worth noting that for all the other weaknesses in my eyesight, I have uncommonly good peripheral vision. Where I will see ten meteors in a given period of time, the missus will see two or three. This disparity has been the cause of no small amount of grumbling on her part. Fortunately she can't see me snickering in the dark.
Now if I can just get the Galaxy Song to quit going over and over in my head...