"I've been interested in time for decades and took the opportunity to spend New
Year's Eve at the home of the country's master clock, the Naval Observatory in
Washington, D. C. They had planned an open house which included the
re-creation of a time ball to be dropped at the instant of midnight from the
roof of the observatory.
I traveled by public transportation from New Paltz to Washington. Both
Trailways and Amtrak ran ahead of schedule with no problems. I had time
between the bus and train to observe Sydney's new year with the crowd in Times
Square at 8 a.m. New York time.
In Washington, the official home of the Vice President is on the grounds of
the observatory, so security there is normally high. I got to see the atomic clock and
converse with its keeper about their proposal to eliminate leap seconds.
For reasons unexplained, the dropping of the ball was a few seconds late.
Maybe a real reporter can get an answer on that. The evening ended with a
wonderful fireworks display.
Everything else working fine. Happy New Year."
Dennis listens to NPR on station WAMK in
Kingston, New York.
