A strange thing happened last night. It was actually clear in L.A., both day and night. The wind blew all the crap that usually hovers over the city to reveal a sparkling, crystal-clear view of the city skyline. We could even see the mountains! So we thought, “Oh, what a great night to go up to Griffith Observatory to do some stargazing!” Well, when we got up there we quickly found out that we were definitely not alone. The main lot was full and there were so many cars lining the hill to get up there you would have thought Tinkerbell was giving away free pixie dust.
When we got up there we found a sea of telescopes on the lawn and there was one great big one that required a little step ladder to look through. It was pointed at Orion’s knee. When I looked through it, I could see a crown of stars and a lot of gaseous looking stuff around Orion’s knee joint. It was cool!
The fact that there were so many people up there, especially couples given that it’s Valentine’s weekend, proves that stargazing is romantic. Peering up at the stars with your sweetie is something that humankind has been doing since we first looked up at night and thought, “Wow, that’s really cool!” There were sooo many people out there last night that I wondered, “What, did these people forget there were stars up in the sky until tonight?” We, at least we could still spot them on a clear night.
