-- located in the San Gabriel Mountains, above Pasadena and the Los Angeles basin, is founded in 1904 by George Ellery Hale in order to better faciliate his studies of the sun.

Detail.  The view today.  Mount Wilson is actually to the left of the big palm tree, out of frame.  This is the snow on that spare set of mountains we keep behind the San Gabriels, which we really only get out to look at around this time of year when the smog and smoke from the fires isn't so bad. 

This is the way I like my snow -- far away and from a distance.  Typing that -- "From a distance" < shiver > I suddenly hear a song but I can't for the life of me remember the rest of it.  Weird.

My friends in Montreal [with whom I spoke recently -- new cat, guinea pig died <sigh> very sad, guinea pigs being the kind of creatures who live such intense and brief little lives, plus there was a rabbit and the cat so you might tremble alot too, but fortunately also a jewelry box which made the most perfect guinea pig-sized coffin, also this one lived longer than most, a Methuselah among guinea pigs] ... anyway Montreal REALLY has snow, which they measure in metric -- so deceptive.  Plus they do their weather in Celsius, which is always much much colder.

Speaking of much, and because I like to try and think of others, here are a couple links with which you can entertain yourselves this weekend:

First, for the decent and even high-minded amongst you who like to be challenged and charmed and get out and stretch the intellect a bit, I direct you to the Telegraph's interview with Golden Compass author Philip Pullman as he talks about the environment, with a link to other Pullman-related pieces.  And then you can pop over to the obits and read the Telegraph's on Bobby Fischer and poor Brad Renfro.

Next, forwarded by the delightful Liza Basset of the Gowanus Canal-adjacent neighborhood of Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, this site with delightful audio track has a pertinent 1904 connection and is suitable (mostly) for viewers of all ages although probably not for the I HEART Huckabee set, who would likely be offended by pretty much everything in these pages anyway: Affectionate Men  

There.  Something for everyone.  Enjoy!