I also had clear skies last night! Woo-hoo!!!
So after a massive battle with my better half playing battle for middle earth
, I quickly checked the sky chart for comet macholz on sky&telescope's website and ran outside with the binos. It was directly overhead at 10:30pm. My neck was really craning so I decided to lay down on the concrete driveway, which also helped to block the streetlight
I scanned a bit past rigel and there it was, a faint little fuzzball! Despite its faintness, I could imagine there was some kind of tail...but my skies here in the western suburbs are rife with so much sky glow that alas, I did not see one. Nor was I able to make it out with the naked eye, and I was even fortunate enough not to have any wind or haze. Just a quiet, mocking calmness in the air, and the very incredibly hungry mosquitoes. I also had a quick look at M42, it just cannot be helped! After that, I went to bed and fell asleep scratching my right leg and toes.
Right now, this is what the sky looks like from my back balcony - a nice cool shade of grey: