EPSILON
The Griffith Observatory is located twenty five miles away from Los Angeles on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood. It is a modern building with a central dome and two small similar structures at its sides. The front lawn is decorated with a big fountain that makes the whole terrain look like a palace. Its architecture, modern and imposing, has been used to film various movies and documentaries. As I was driving up the road with the scenery of the city growing slowly smaller and passing the surrounding forests, I could see downtown Hollywood and, of course, the Pacific Ocean.
The observatory was usually full of people on the weekends and today was not an exception. I tried to get there early, but as I drove in I saw William standing in the parkway, looking at the sky. I parked in the last free spot I found. It was a cloudy and cool day - the perfect day for a hike. I saw a lot of campers and hikers on my way to him. It occurred to me that I had never seen his car, and I was suddenly curious.
"Probably something very fancy to impress the girls...not that he needs it."
I saw many of them staring at him as usual, one of them even getting close and attempting to chat him up. I started to walk slower, giving him time to work his magic on her. When she left, I hurried up before any other girl engaged him. I didn't want to spend all day here. I had work and laundry to do.
"Hi," I caught his attention, "You're here early…again." "I'm always the first in class. Haven't you noticed?"
I tried to remember, but I really only paid attention to Toby who was usually adorkably late. It gave me the chance to see him come in without looking suspicious.
"Sorry, I haven't."
He smiled briefly, and then gestured for me to lead the way. "So where do we start?"
"In the beginning," I said, taking the lead. The stairs had some drops of water on them. It seemed that it rained a little bit before we arrived. I slipped, but William caught me instantly, grabbing my arms with his big hands. I was a bit startled and embarrassed.
"I'm normally not this clumsy."
"I know," He said helping me to get back on my feet. I continued on and entered the booth. Before he could do anything, I got two tickets and handed him one. He looked at me with a twenty dollar bill in his hand.
"I owed you a sandwich," I said, leaving him with that strange expression on his face.
The foyer had a big round ceiling with paintings of different astronomical figures and scientists at the top. The Pleiads, Copernicus, Newton…
"I love this place!"
In the center there was a bright hole with a Foucault Pendulum in it. The exhibit was to show how the pendulum knocks over long lines of pegs every once in a while the proof that...
"And yet it moves..."
I signaled William to get close and look. "Do you know what this measures?"
He leaned down next to me. His face glowed with the light of the pit.
"Earth's rotation?"
"Exactly! How does it work?"
He hesitated; thinking in silence for a moment, then began slowly, "The plane is fixed in space while the Earth rotates under the pendulum?"
"Good," I encouraged him. "Now can you picture it? In your mind?" I said pointing at my forehead with my index finger.
He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, he looked at the pendulum. He watched it knocking the next peg.
"…Yes, I can!" He was grinning, his eyes lit up. "He finally got it!" It was like witnessing a miracle. "Show me more," He said, holding my hand after a pause.
I didn't remove it right away. His "Eureka moment" took me back to when I had my first one.
I was nine. My teacher had shown us a bunch of mathemat