Staring at the Sun

My aunt Cheryl and her two kids are visiting from Memphis so we got together, along with my grandma, brother, and mom this weekend in my neck of the woods to see my apartment, go out for lunch at the charmingly dreamy outdoor space of Home Restaurant and take a trip to the Griffith Observatory, which is a fabulous, fascinating place to spend a few hours whether you're a kid or adult. It was such a gorgeous day that despite the haze that limited the city view, or the fact that it was cuh-razy busy up at Griffith Park, which required us to walk a mile-plus from our car to the observatory, we had a great time looking through telescope reflections of the sun's surface, seeing what an eclipse looks like from space, and seeing just how tiny we are in the grand scheme of things.

 Yeah, we parked farther than from where I took this photo.

 The Foucault pendulum, which immediately takes me back to elementary school field trips and continues to inspire wonder in me at how the planet works.

 Detail of the zodiac mural on the ceiling of the entrance dome.

 I love all of the Art Deco details of the building. It totally transports you to a Los Angeles of the noir era, where even if you have a view of the wide expanse and Downtown skyscrapers that have become the city, you can imagine what it was like in 1935 when the observatory was opened.

 Awaiting the planetarium show.