Griffith's Glory and Electric Glee

In this episode, Griffith's Glory and Electric Glee . . .

Welcome back to On the Fly, Lori asked me if I wanted to do something special for my weekend birthday (August 16th, 2024). My thought: Hmmm–It’s been over 35 years since we’ve had one of our Friday night dates at the Griffith Park Observatory.” What if we spent the weekend in Los Angeles, had dinner at a historic diner, visited the Observatory, and hiked Griffith Park the following morning?”

This was a regular occurrence when I lived in Glendale, CA., and Lori lived on Los Feliz Blvd; she could walk to the Observatory. So, we did.

Now, don't get me wrong. We've been to LA many times since moving to Carlsbad for various reasons like Dodger games, my memorable 60th birthday trip to Guitar Center, our visit to Norman's Rare Guitars, the trip to Exposition Park to see the Space Shuttle, and yearly trips to pick up Lori's Mom for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. My blog is filled with such adventures, not just Griffith Park.

The Griffith Observatory is more than just an iconic landmark. It's a portal to science, history, and the cosmos! Built in 1935 and remodeled from 2002 to 2006, this architectural gem perched in the Hollywood hills offers stunning views of Los Angeles at night and incredible astronomical insights.

As a young instructor at GIA in 1988, trips to the observatory gave me key insights into ideas that allowed me to teach the Science of Gemology. One of my first classroom presentations as a trainee was on Light Theory. My training instructor, Diana Moran, was very complimentary, "That was the best presentation of Light Theory I've seen at GIA.” After that, I was hooked. The interactive displays at Griffith Observatory became my go-to place for additional information as I prepared my classroom presentations.

One of my favorite exhibits is The Tesla Coil. The Tesla coil, a marvel of electrical engineering, was the brainchild of the visionary inventor Nikola Tesla. It's a high-voltage transformer that produces spectacular displays of electricity. It creates a resonant electrical circuit, where energy is transferred efficiently between two coils. Tesla coils can produce output voltages from 50 kilovolts to several million volts for large coils. The result is very impressive, crackling sparks you've probably seen in videos.

While Tesla coils are renowned for their dazzling displays, they were initially conceived as a means for wireless power transmission. Tesla dreamed of a world where energy could be beamed without wires. Although this vision has yet to materialize fully, his work laid the groundwork for today's wireless technologies.

On the weekends, we would hike Griffith Park. This sprawling urban oasis, founded by Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, covers a whopping 4,210 acres. Imagine a place (In Los Angeles) where you can hike, ride horses, visit a zoo, or escape the city bustle. That's Griffith Park!

This year, on Saturday morning, we started at Ferndale and hiked to the Observatory—a 3.67-mile loop in about two hours with a 703-foot elevation gain and a temperature of 71 degrees. It was spectacular.

However, be warned: Los Angeles is extremely busy with tourists in the summer, and traffic can be defeating. The swarms of people are overwhelming, but once you're there and hiking Griffith Park, it's as if you were transported to a different world—enjoy!

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

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