Flagstaff AZ

 A little night music

Konrad

My first airbnb overnight stay was in Flagstaff AZ at Konrad's home. Other guests were there from Australia and the Boston area. We had coffee together in his backyard in the mornings, and at night we played music and talked. Konrad grew up in Switzerland and he has a friend in Flagstaff, Joachim, who grew up in the same town. His friend arrived the second night with his suitcase full of harmonicas and entertained us playing everything from the blues to the can-can. He used to play harmonica with Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and other well-known folk musicians. We got a little band going with Konrad playing the guitar, me on piano, and Gary from Boston on African drum. 

Morning coffee

Konrad was formerly a Catholic priest and before coming to the US he used to visit the monastery in Taize France where he camped and worshiped with young people of many faiths and nationalities. At least once he spent the night in the monastery sanctuary that was illuminated with candles and he slept on the floor with other pilgrims.

Telescope that discovered Pluto

I drove up Mars Hill to see Lowell Observatory and the beautiful grounds and museum. The planet Pluto was discovered here using an extremely labor-intensive method. Photos of the night sky were taken with this rather basic equipment and then compared side by side (without computers... just human eyes and extreme attention to detail.) The astronomer looked for anything that appeared to have moved, assuming that "stars" are so far away that they would seem to be in the same place in both photos, and "planets" are close enough for movement to be detected.