washout

Last night I went out after 10:00, and the sky was clear! Owl hooting in the blackness. I hauled out my telescope, star guide, binoculars, etc. Got a list of 4-5 sites to observe. As I was quietly setting up in the lane, I suddenly heard some growling and barking in the darkness not far away. I think I surprised & frightened the foxes which, in turn, surprised & frightened me. I yelled at them to go away. Finally got back to the heavens, and was honing in on the M3 globular cluster when some of the marker stars started to fade away. Clouds had started to quickly roll in which put an end to the star gazing before it ever got started. Frustrating.