A Blood red eclipse of the moon from Llano de la Venta viewpoint La Palma has beautiful dark skies, so I was hoping for a really good view of last night’s lunar eclipse. But looking at the low cloud along the horizon, I decided to drive up to the star party at Llano de la Venta, one of La Palma’s astronomical viewpoints. In practice, an astronomical vciewpoint means parking space,…
I think I made a reasonably thorough job of item one on my post-Starlight-Guide-course list, which was “Chill”. I don’t seem to have got much further, though. Well, I managed the overdue haircut before my fringe reached my jaw and I caught up with the laundry backlog and excavated the kichen. But I’ve made very little progress on the rest of the list. That’s partly because I’ve been doing a…
This weekend will see the biggest livestock fair on the island, in Garafía. San Antonio del Monte used to be a village, but the villagers moved away. About the only thing that’s left is the church of St. Anthony and the feast day, with it’s massive fair. Apart from the animals, there’s a craft fair, and of course lots of stalls selling cheap toys, food and drink. It’s a…
Yes, well, better late than never. This Escape Velocity Anthology published by Adventure Books of Seattle came out while I was up to my eyes in the Starlight Guide course. It’s 353 pages long, and contains forty-eight sci-fi stories, including two of mine: “Scream Quietly” and “Zuggyzu and the Humans”. The Kindle version’s only $5.74, which I think is seriously good value for money. I think it’s only fair to…
At this time of year in La Palma, you might hear rather unnerving Howie-howie-SKRAWK! noises in the night, something between a furious tom cat and a duck. You’re particularly likely to hear it near the sea. The first time I heard it, I wasn’t exactly scared, but I was rather glad that I was inside a solid house and the whatever-it-was clearly outside. I’m sure I’d have felt decidedly uncomfortable…
I’ve finished the Starlight Guide course. I worked up at the Roque this morning, and went to a first aid course this afternoon. Now I’m free. After concentrating on the course for the last three months, I have 39 items on my to-do list, ranging from “get a haircut” to “finish the e-book” and “learn German.” It’s time for item #1: Chill.