Cooke's Tale 9

　On March 28, 2022, I visited the site where the Marine Weather Station used to be. Now there is a condominium building.

　This area was once known as Ujino Mountain.

　This is the ramp from the west side of a condominium  to a condominium entrance and parking lot. This incline was probably the slope that once led to the Marine Weather Station.

　This is a view looking northwest from the end of the ramp.

　Today, a huge condominium stands on the site. An elegant Marine Weather Station once stood here.

　I have read in the condominium brochure that there are still cherry trees in the common areas of the condominium that were once located at the Marine Weather Station.

　However, since it was inside the condominium, outsiders were not allowed to enter.

　Only the foundations of the old stone pillars at the end of the ramp remain as a monument to a bygone era.

　The description reads.

"The entrance garden was once the site of Japan's first Marine Weather Station. The stone platform that has watched over the land since that time has been repurposed as a birdbath, and has become the symbol of the plaza."

　The old granite stone skin made me feel the passage of 100 years.

　This is the end of the long-running Cooke story. However, the Cooke story will continue as long as the Cooke & Son's (UK) 25cm refractor telescope is still in service.

　In closing this story, I would like to quote the words of L.C. Pelcher, who was praised by astronomer H. Shapley as "the greatest amateur astronomer in the world.

　A telescope never dies of old age. It just ceases to be used. The performance of a telescope never deteriorates, and the lenses that serve its core function still retain the light and brilliance of its youth after a century of use. Some telescopes, however, lie dormant or in a state of suspended animation for one reason or another. At such times, as they slowly accumulate dust, telescopes will wonder what happened to the hand that once so enthusiastically pointed them skyward. (Omitted).

　The two telescopes (*a short-focus 15cm refractor formerly owned by Princeton University and a 30cm Clark refractor formerly owned by Wesleyan University and the University of Miami, which were presented to Mr. L.C. Pelcher) are not just pieces of property. I like to think of it as a gift entrusted to me and of which I am the custodian. I am a custodian who is grateful for what the telescope has done to me, and who will gladly open its eyes to see the stars again. The telescope is rejuvenated and appears to be contemplating a long and meaningful life ahead with youthful enthusiasm. But I am not deceived by appearances. I know their past and cannot help but feel the same deep reverence for them as I do for my elders, no matter how jovial they may be. After all, they have seen much of history, and especially so about the 30cm telescope, with which they know their genealogy so well."

(References.)

The Coming Night of the Stars, by L.C. Pelcher, translated by Keiko Suzuki, Earth People Letters, 1985.