by Jay Freeman
I regret very much being late to Montebello Friday 3 May; I heard from a ranger that several other folks, without permits, had been expecting me to show up with mine by sunset.
I was delayed because of a wildlife rescue here at Sun Microsystems, where I work. Two just-hatched black-necked stilt chicks had fallen through the grill down into a storm drain. I was able to get one out, and get it to Palo Alto Wildlife Rescue. It was so chilled and stressed out that it was unable to stand after I got it back to ground level -- it was unable to follow its mother. Rather to my surprise, it survived, was in good health the next day, and was transferred up to the marine wildlife rescue folks in (I think) Sausalito, the next day.
When I finally arrived at Montebello, wisps of fog hung near the site, but they dispersed and a weak subsidence condition developed, with temperatures warming slightly from the minimum of 6C, and relative humidity dropping from mid 90 percents to high 70s. I had my 6-inch AP refractor, and had a fairly good night of it.
Jane Houston was right, it was indeed possible to put one's thumb on one's nose and cover all the inner planets with one's outstretched fingers.