THE BELL CURVE:

I can walk a block-and-a-half out my front door and be atop a view of our Back Bay guaranteed to bring a welcome sense of peace, especially at twilight after a frenetic or troubled day.

The water is placid and sparkling then, and the ever-present dredge, when it is back-lit by a setting sun, looks downright friendly — even without plugging in its tireless daily efforts to save this place for us.

I’m not much into birds in a one-on-one basis, but I’ve been fascinated lately on my evening walk to the bay to see them gathering at dusk in groupings so large that they seem to be an extension of the land on which they are gathering.

It occurred to me, watching this spectacle the other night, that this must be their cocktail hour, an activity that probably hasn’t occurred to dedicated bird watchers unless they are devoted to the early evening martini.

Such nature musings, normally not seen in this space, have crossed my mind this week because of a repeated item on the Pilot’s Calendar page about an open house coming up this Saturday to introduce the new Back Bay Science Center to the home folks whose taxes will help pay for it.

Since the bay has become my friend and confidant, further exploration seemed the neighborly thing to do. So here’s what a publication of the Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends and a conversation with Robin Madrid of the California Department of Fish and Game turned up.

The Science Center is at 600 Shellmaker Road in Newport Beach and will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on next Saturday.

Although several regular unrelated activities like the UC Irvine crew base will continue on Shellmaker Island, there will — unlike the neighboring Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center — be no public access after the opening celebration.

Because some high-level science goes on here, only arranged activities will be available for visiting.

But on this Saturday, there will be a party. There will be boating tours for visitors and throwback fishing off the dock for ages 5 to 15.

There will be hot dogs and tide pools and touch tanks and tours of testing labs. And there will be information booths where the four major partners in this project — California Department of Fish and Game, Orange County Health Care Agency, UC Irvine and Newport Beach — will answer questions about their roles in the creation of the center.

In a layman’s need to oversimplify in order to understand technology, it seems to me that the work being done at the Science Center affects all us water consumers directly in three ways in particular.

First, by providing research-based teaching laboratories for two 30-student classes, it will offer high-quality estuary science programs all the way through the college level.

Second, it will provide a link between these students and the state-of-the-art water quality testing laboratory already in place.

And, third, it will spread the word to water-issue illiterates like me of the causes of pollution and the importance of protecting the fragile ecosystem and healthy water quality of the Back Bay.

If all of this sounds vague, I would suggest you stop by Shellmaker Island on Saturday and talk to the people who will be there to explain it to you.

As Robin Madrid pointed out to me: “We just want our neighbors to understand what is in their backyard — and how they can help to cut down on pollution.”

None of this is going to enhance the already magnificent view from my hillside. But it has made the dredge even more user-friendly and considerably increased my appreciation for those who work so diligently to protect and preserve what nature has given us in the Back Bay.

On this date a year ago, I wrote about a surprise — as delightful as it was unexpected — that came into my life at Saint Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church in Corona del Mar. At dusk on a Sunday evening, I was taken to an event there called Jazz Vespers, which couldn’t possibly have been less than divinely inspired.

Under the direction of an Episcopal priest named Norm Freeman, three other musicians with résumés that included work with some of the great musicians of our time had almost as much fun as we did in the audience.

They improvised frequently, converting everything from operatic riffs to Bing Crosby standards into delicious jazz.

They’re back for another round at 5 p.m. this Sunday, and they’re a lot more fun than hunkering over a TV set to watch the Lakers or “60 Minutes.”

And there are even hors d’oeuvres afterward.

JOSEPH N. BELL lives in Newport Beach. His column runs Thursdays.