Cosmic Strings

Last year (Jan 2004) I took a fantastic vacation to Costa Rica to see the wildlife. I decided this would be a good time to try and see if I could add my web page of the best or most interesting photos to the links section of my blog. It seems to be successful.

Spring has arrived at the base of the mountain, as signaled by the blooming california poppies. Fields of wildflowers are beckoning me to head out with my camera to capture the beauty. Spring hasn’t quite hit the top of Mount Hamilton yet. Only the sky lupines are starting to bloom at and near the summit. A little further down the hill the mosquito bills and indian warrior are blooming.

Though spring is slowly on its way, we are still in winter and it could snow at any time on Mount Hamilton. The thing I haven’t gotten used to is winter in the Bay Area. I grew up in Connecticut where winter is white and the trees are bare, but in the springtime absolutely everything turns green. Here winter is the rainy season, where the oak trees are devoid of leaves, but the grass is growing and very green. By late spring the rain will have stopped, the trees will have leaves, but the grass will be golden brown. Certainly not like the winters and springs I grew up with.

Why am I starting a blog? For a couple reasons really, but originally I hadn’t even thought
of writing a blog until a friend set up this site for me. That pushed me over the edge to
actually doing something (and a long night at the 3m Shane Telescope gave me time to think
about this). I figure that my life on Mount Hamilton, home of Lick Observatory, might
have some interesting tidbits for others that are published nowhere else, such as little known bits of the Observatory history or the flora and fauna of Mount Hamilton.

Check out the HamCam to see what the view is like right now from Lick Observatory.

What am I doing? Starting a blog? I must be insane.