Telescopes at the Top of the World

Because of same strange warp in the space-time continuum, many of us that used to live in the Netherlands now live in California.  We made the trip to LA to visit some of our awesome friends from the Netherlands, in a much warmer, much sunnier local.

Bram and I with Harish, Andrew, and Robyn

During our trip we made the voyage to Mount Wilson, high in the mountains overlooking LA.

Mount Wilson has some amazing and historical telescopes.  Thanks to its location high above the LA smog, the viewing here is still pretty good.   The biggest of the telescopes here is the 100 inch Hooker telescope, which was the largest telescope in the world until 1949.  (And for a point - what telescope surpassed it?)

This is the telescope that Edwin Hubble used made his discoveries that galaxies, then believed to be nebula rather than independent star systems, were actually receding from Earth - leading to observational evidence that the Universe is expanding.

These telescopes are the perfect size to be mounted on my house!  (hint hint!)

Enjoying the brisk clear air.

The solar observatory is also pretty neat.  It's located on the top of an 18 meter tower.  An image of the magnified sun is projected at the bottom of the tower on a table.

Looking over LA, Harish, Andrew, and Bram.

You Know You're in ___ When....

Questions with dinner:
New Mexico: Red or green?
Hawaii: What's your opinion about poi?  *Snicker*

Colorado: Do you have the organic vegan gluten-free soymilk variety?

Texas: How bloody do you want your steak?
Holland: Are you about to pass out?  Then I guess it's time for a slice of bread and some cheese.
France: You'll eat the chocolate cake!

Reactions to weather:
New Mexico: Is it about to rain?  Then go outside and dance for joy as you watch five drops of rain fizzle on the sidewalk.
Hawaii: Weather?  You mean it's possible to have a temperature that's not 70 degrees?  You must be joking.
Colorado: Snow!  Cool!  Let's ski to work!
Texas: Curl up in front of the TV and watch the radar with a bowl of popcorn.
Holland:  Sunny?  Go outside to make sure you don't miss the 5 photons of the season.
France:  Your friend thinks weather changes a lot. You just laugh because you know better.

Mode of transportation:
New Mexico: Beaten up, dilapidated rusty dust covered car.
Hawaii: Anywhere worth visiting can be visited via surf board.

Colorado: Is it less than 30 miles away?  Use your thousand dollar yuppie bike.  If not, charge up ol' Sparky, the electric car, and you're on your way.

Texas: Your trusty steed (horse).
Holland: Your trusty steed (bike).
France: Ever try cramming on l'metro with 12 thousand other people (le sardine can).

Only in...
New Mexico: Spring comes, the entire state is covered in 70 mile an hour gusts of wind, and you are barricaded into your house behind a wall of tumbleweeds.
Hawaii: Kids learn to swim before they can walk.

Colorado: In one room, an elementary school is having a science fair, where every single entry is about sustainable energy.  In the next room, you can get a Tarot reading and buy a healing crystal.

Texas: Outside of Wal-Mart, a guy wearing a cowboy hat sits on top of a semi-truck sized aquarium filled with big mouth bass, fishing.
Holland: On the first day it's not raining, snowing, winding, and it's just above freezing, the college guys next door will move out their couch outside and lounge shirtless while sunbathing and drinking beer.
France:  Political movement you don't like?  Le greve.  Forced to retire at a higher age?  Le greve.  Coffee not hot enough?  Le greve.

The Day Giant Butterflies and Orca Whales Attacked our City

One of the totally amazing things about growing up in New Mexico is that for one week every fall, the skies lit up with a rainbow of colors as literally thousands of hot air balloons take flight.  I haven't been to a Balloon Fiesta in about a decade, until this year, when I was able to check out the balloons one misty morning.

A hot air balloon, dissolving into mist

Sometimes a low flying balloon can surprise drivers, making a beautiful road hazard.

Some special shapes begin to take flight.  This one is an accurate representation on how I feel on a Monday morning.

The airspace begins to get crowded.

Helicopters get a pretty good view.  They just have to watch where they are going.

More balloons into the clouds.

Watching the balloons with my mom and dad!

A giant orca whale attacks the city.

Followed by this sperm whale, moments before he crashes into the Earth.  In this picture, he's contemplating if the ground will be his friend (the answer is no).  A point if you can name the other object that is falling with the whale.

Gigantic frightening butterfly.

You know something sinister lies behind those big doe eyes...

A truly angry bird.

What is that weird shape?  It's a basket ball in a hoop!

Watching the balloons.

This balloon would have been so much better if the cat was alive on the other side....

Horses on Halloween

Perhaps this Halloween you have found yourself wondering: What do horses do for Halloween? Well, I have the answer for you - they have a costume contest!  This Halloween,  I had the chance to see one of these costume contests in person.

Zorro and her trusty steed.

This horse dressed up as a witch, complete with little broom.

No, the horse did not try to ride the broom.

I'm not sure exactly what this horse is, but it had a cute shiny purple hat, that moved whenever the horse twitched its ears.

A Trojan horse!  Get it?

A horse of a different color.

My grandma and husband, watching the show.

This horse dressed up in 2-D.

Bet you've never seen that before!

This horse won for "Best Accessory" - a little mermaid!

Even the dogs got in on the action.

A Native American with horse.

Horses attempting to line up for judging and a photo opportunity.

This horse dressed up as his namesake - a point if you can guess it.

This dog also got dressed up - as a hobo with a little pack tied to a stick.  Needless to say, the stick didn't last long as the dog went bounding through the house, using his stick to knock over everything.

Not the best thought out costume...

So now next Halloween, when you find yourself wondering where all the horses are - you will know.

Locallized Weirdness

America is different that Europe.  I recently read an article about things that are weird in the US that American may not realize are weird.  Some of these I thought were weird when I lived there, but now that I am living in Europe, yes, I have noticed almost all of these.  Particularly # 4, 10, and 18...

The Stuff Pancakes are Made Of

New York state has a lot of water.  Growing up in the desert, this still fascinates me.  I would call any trickle of water down a rock face a waterfall.  New York state has a good share of "real" waterfalls.  Bram and I went to Buttermilk falls, a network of several falls down a beautiful stream*.

Walking up the waterfalls, many people take a break to walk in the pond at the base of the waterfall.

My husband frolics at the base of the waterfall.

Getting closer...

Then he decides he wants to try to climb it.

After his wife earns a few more gray hairs, he makes it to the top.

We decide to do a good portion of our hike through the stream itself.  Here I am at the top of my own scaled waterfall.

Some college students had too much time on their hands.

Fording the river.

The mini waterfalls, cutting away the soft rock.

Ever the great outdoors-man.

At this section of the river, the fast moving stream made a particularly deep hole in the soft rock.

These piles of rock are typically used by hikers in modern days to find their ways while hiking.  They have been found all over the world and some date back thousands of years.  These date back to last Friday night, when drunk college students made several of them.  A point if you know the name of these odd rock piles (no google).

* What we desert folk call a rushing river.