I Want a Cloudless Evening Sky to Star-Gaze

Lately I've been feeling like going outside in the evening to take a look at the summer sky, only to be repeatedly thwarted by the clouds that seem to have become a permanent fixture.  It used to be that with nightfall, the skies would tend to clear up, even if it was overcast during the day.  But this hasn't been the case of late...although I remember something like this happening in my youth.  It seemed like a whole season during 1964, just when I was getting started learning the constellations and was nightly going out to look at the sky to see the stars and planets, was a succession of cloudy, disappointing evenings.  But tonight the prospect of a cloudy sky may hinder one of the premier sky-gazing events we have: the perigee, or closest approach to earth of the moon, takes place as it is in its full phase and should appear to be relatively big as it rises in the east...as the sun sets in the west, of course.  Also, we're entering what is usually the most spectacular annual meteor shower, the Perseids, which should peak early Tuesday morning.  I'll be at work when that happens, though.  Anyway, I've had a very low level of success with spotting meteors during meteor showers ... although I've seen quite a few "rogue" meteors over the course of my lifetime that weren't connected with a shower.

All of the special events aside, I'd just like to experience a clear evening when I can go out into my back yard and observe the sky and my old summertime constellation "friends" like Scorpius, Hercules, Ophiucus, Aquila, Bootes, Lyra, Cygnus, and Sagittarius.  And to see if I can still make out the fainter ones like Sagitta and Delphinus.  Oh, and to see what the planets are up to as well...