Wondering about Fort Davis Observatory and Ben’s Memorial.

I have been near Fort Davis and its observatory many, many times but was always in a hurry to get to someplace else, so never stopped.  I need to stop sometime since I really love astronomy.  Of course I know that I would not be allowed to use the four big telescopes.  I would prefer to tour the place in the daytime when the scopes are not in use.  I have never seen a telescope bigger than the one I own and would like to see the observatory as a whole.

Did you know that back years ago that a fellow ran into the dome and fired three shots from a handgun into the 107 inch mirror?  I have no idea why he did it but I do know that a reflector mirror that size would be very expensive and take a long time to build or repair.  Fortunately, it did not do extensive damage to the big scope and it still had 98 percent of its light gathering ability still intact.

My wife and I wanted to attend the memorial for Ben that will be held in Mansfield, Texas tonight, but since my wife has broken vertebrae, she is in too much pain to go that far in the Jeep and back home the same night.  We also have three dogs to worry about, and the motor-home is still in the shop.  She could stand the trip if we had the RV to use and could stay the night and the pups could come along.  I can’t leave her here alone, since she cannot even open the sliding door to let the dogs in and out.  We have another appointment with an M.D. this morning and hope they can figure something out.  We both think that this is something that will just have to heal itself.  Neither of us likes to take medication, and do not take pain meds.  I think that pain medication is just a mask over the real problem and could cause a person to hurt themselves even worse when on the pain medication.  Pain is the body’s way of warning us that there is something wrong.  OK, the pain has warned her, so hope it will get better quickly.  Now you all have a great day now, you hear.