• The Seer’s Stone
  • The Dodo Dragon and other stories
  • About Sheila Crosby
  • A Breathtaking Window on the Universe

R.I.P. Florian Goebel

Florien was the project manager for MAGIC II, the second of the huge Cherenkov telescopes at the Roque de los Muchachos. The telescope was due to be inaugurated next week, on the 19th. That’s been delayed now, because somehow he fell from the prime focus tower in the dark last night. The tower is about ten metres (33ft) high, and Florien’s dead. I only ever had one conversation with him….

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The Devil’s Dance

As usual, the devil paid a visit to Tijarafe’s annual fiesta. It starts off like most fiestas. The village centre is off the main road, and on the way in, I passed mobile bars, blasting out music at full volume. The only surprise was that the music was drum and bass. When I reached the main square, higher up, I found it decorated with white bunting and packed with people…

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The End of the World

Isn’t it funny how, as soon as you don’t have to do something, it becomes appealing again. Like blogging. El Hierro used to be the end of the world, and so the zero meridian went through the west of the island, before it moved to Greenwich. On Thursday we went to see it. It really does feel like the end of the world. The whole island’s rather dry, and this…

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Home Sweet Home

El Hierro was nice. We went out and did things about half the time, and just lounged near the pool for the rest. We saw the giant lizards and the end of the world, and quite a lot of scenery. It was just what I needed, and I feel really relaxed. In fact normal service will be resumed when I damn well feel like it, and not before.

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The Devil’s coming tonight!

It’s fiesta time in Tijarafe, and the devil should join the fun in the early hours of the morning. The Town Hall website says he’ll arrive at 4 am. I’ve only been once in all the years I’ve lived here, and then the devil was two hours late. But then, punctuality is a virtue, so you can’t really expect the devil to have, can you?

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Well I’ll Go to the Foot of our Stairs!

I won the contest at GUD, so I have a free magazine to look forward to. Just for a change, life’s been a bit too busy. This week, on top of the usual translating and housework, I’ll be tour guiding at the Roque on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; giving free English classes for my nieces on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; holding my son’s birthday party on Friday, and going on…

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