Pioneering

Thanks to clearing out some of the clutter, I realized about two weeks ago that I hadn't yet tackled Robert Heinlein's Time Enough for Love  even though it's been in my library for over a year. Launching off on the book, I found myself about half way through it today on my way back north.

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport

Heinlein's books affect me by both engaging my imagination and prompting me to look at the world through a slightly different lens than my habitual assumptions. This one causes me to think about the profession of pioneering with a sense of both longing and adventure.

There are still areas left to explore here on earth, but pioneering, the profession of exploring, taming, settling, and scraping out a living making an untamed wild more habitable for humans seems just out of reach. I'm not sure if that assumption is true, but it sure feels like it.

The last great terrestrial area to make an attempt to habitate rests on the floor of the world's oceans. For other pioneering entrepids, looking to the stars seems like the next logical leap.

I believe the world is ready for the next great challenge, and visionaries like Elon Musk and Richard Branson seem to be making a go of it. 

Sunset - College Creek

Walking distances has proven to be marginally effective at scratching my natural nomadic itch, but the opportunity to work with others to colonize the moon in my lifetime seems like a better outlet. That kind of pioneering would not necessarily be a one way trip like some of the more ambitious interplanetary goals will likely end up being, and a base on the moon outside of the earth's gravity well seem like the next logical step.

The moon is a compelling target, and it offers plenty of chances to hone our space pioneering with reasonable odds of success. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and moving one more step closer to the destiny that's calling out from above.

A City Set Upon a HIll

In The Sermon on the Mount, the parable of Salt and Light is related to the disciples and followers of Jesus. Today, as I made my morning walk, I remembered that this parable had become part of a long standing tradition in American political discourse.  The first reported use was by John Winthrop to the founding members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony while they were still on their ship bound for the new world. It has been used to describe the United States from that point forward by a number of politicians and leaders like Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

Shining Beacon on a Hill

As I walked past the Capitol Building today, I was struck by the difference in discourse between the current murder of Presidential hopefuls and some of the more respected leaders of the past. Presidents Kennedy and Reagan portrayed powerful visions of the great gifts and responsibilities we share as American citizens. They each had a profoundly optimistic vision of this country and a vision to lead us all to realizing each of our own potentials. I think they were loved for this trait.

Today, I hear talk of returning to America to greatness and defeating the menacing threats that we face. Economic, social, and military calamity are shouted about like they are all but certain should we not choose the correct person to bring us all back from the abyss.

I reject these pessimistic and fear based notions of who we are and where we are going.  Walking this country, in California, Alabama, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Kentucky, Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina, I have been struck almost speechless at the bounty and opportunity that are within grasp of all of us...even the most modest of means.

Anacostia Sunrise with USS Barry

I have walked shoulder to shoulder with business and political leaders, middle class engineers, housewives, and lawyers, and doctors, and the homeless. I've even had the occasion to speak to the self proclaimed "best bass guitar player" in the great state of Maryland.

We do not need some demagogue to restore us to greatness. The greatness we seek is all around us. It's manifested in the vast material wealth that is available for the enjoyment of almost anyone. It is manifested in the history of the generations that have come before us. It is manifested in the hope and optimism for a future expressed in the children of my friends and my own family. It is manifested in the majesty of the daily sunrise and sunsets, the Moon and Venus tracking across the blackness of the universe, the wind and the rain, the sun and the cold.

We are not a people on the downslope of history. We need only to acknowledge the greatness in ourselves and put our shoulders to the wheel of destiny to fulfill our purpose. We need no one to restore something that has never been lost.

I look forward to what tomorrow will bring, and I'm going to walk on...with the set face and sense of purpose of a man sent out to subdue Captain America. Time to turn off the television and discover our destiny. 

Looking for Beauty

Today on my morning walk, I was listening to a TED Talk listed under the broad category of Beauty that centered on happiness and how humans related to this particular feeling.  As TED products go, this one was middle of the road for me in terms of inspiration, but the speaker did address an interesting result from a study associated with happiness in relationships. Apparently, one of the conclusions of the study was that it took five positive comments for every one negative comment for people involved in a relationship to characterize that relationship as happy. The speaker's thesis was that this skewed result is due to the fact that we, as humans, are hypersensitive to negative input as a survival mechanism. This survival technique was really very useful out on the plains 10,000 years ago, but it is less valuable now when physical survival is not nearly the front and center concern that it once represented.

Later during the walk, I was talking to Rory, and he suggested that he'd awakened and was a bit down in the dumps. We talked about that for awhile, and eventually, he got around to asking me one of his standard questions in the wee hours before twilight. "What are you looking forward to at work today?"

I've been doing the same job for about two years now, and the bulk of my actions are mostly associated with keeping bad things from happening. It's important work, but if I'm honest, it's not very inspiring work.  It is the day to day attention to detail that I'm pretty good at executing.  It'a also a far cry from what I'd characterize as being an exploration, experiment, or adventure. I've known periods where all of my existence seemed like one, two, or even all three of those things. Those periods were both exhilarating and intensely rewarding. Working the problems using my wits, knowledge, and sometimes brawn (such that it is) and dexterity against unknown odds in the face of uncertainty is what I always imagined I was training to do when I was growing up.

Alas, things aren't always high adventure, but right now the truth of the matter is that I'm not going out of my way to look forward to much of anything at work. The things I look forward to facing are the walks, the learning through reading and listening to smart people, jogging, creating something new, experimenting in the kitchen, etc. My work now facilitates my ability to do the things that I look forward to doing.  I do look forward to getting out on a ship underway for trials and any opportunity to travel, but that's about it as far as work is concerned.

In response to Rory's question, I asked him what sort of beauty he expected to encounter today. He said, "Good question. I don't think I've ever put that much thought into that before. I'll have to think about it."

Moonset on the Anacostia

Since I started walking, I think about encountering and appreciating beauty on a regular basis now. The recognition of beauty started slowly at first over a year ago, but I've found that once I started observing it all around me, it was almost impossible for me to not approach the observation and appreciation in a deliberate manner.  I find that unlike the speaker suggested in the TED Talk, I'm less sensitive to negative situations, and I'm more attuned to positive circumstances. Looking for beauty has changed the way I view the world and my life is much better for the happy accident that evolved into a deliberate seeking of the goodness that flows all around us.

Sunrise over the Anacostia

Today I saw beauty in the moonset and sunrise over the Anacostia River. I also saw beauty in the architecture, air, dogs, fellow humans, and some pretty sweet cars in between these two events during the course of my walk.

I even recognized beauty in the chuckle brought on by a joke, and the happiness shining from the face of a newly married bride and groom as I ground out the pedestrian (no pun intended) task of oiling the gears of the bureaucracy to make sure they kept grinding along.

I don't know what I'll encounter tomorrow, but I am looking forward to and seeking the beauty.

Sharing, Soaring, Serene

This morning and opportunity presented itself to sit down with a group of friend and speak frankly about some of my past experiences, some things that happened to change the direction I was taking, what that's led to, and what there was to learn during that time.

It's always been a little uncomfortable for me to share those kind of details, even in a general way, with other people.  Fear is probably the root of the reluctance, but it's not a knee melting sort of fear.  Whatever the source of the reluctance, I tend to feel better after I've stepped up to the facts and vocalized them out loud.

The get together took a little longer than planned, so my commute to work was delayed as well.  There is a reason for everything, and on my way to work, later in the day than I had planned, the universe rewarded me with a sighting of an adult bald eagle in flight.

Adult Bald Eagle in Flight above US Highway 50

Fate smiled on me further and allowed me to capture an over the shoulder shot out of my driver side window of the magnificent raptor.  Once again, the picture above does not quite do the sight that I saw justice, but I continue to be amazed by the quality of photography possible on a device about half the size and volume of a short paperback novel.  Here's the whole shot that I captured for a bit of context regarding the quality of the image capture seen in the blown up shot above.

Adult Bald Eagle in Flight above US Highway 50

The eagle is the v-shaped speck above and slightly to the right of the power pole near the center of the picture.

Although this was during my driving commute, I did get in the goal distance associated with my pedestrian activity.  The evening ramble saw me out the doors at work a little later than hoped for, and surprise awaited me when the lingering colors of the setting sun were still vivid enough to capture in pixels.

The Colors of Sunset as a Backdrop a Skyline in Southeast DC

This picture was taken on my trip to the car to drop off my gym back before hitting the asphalt in earnest.  With the dark hue of the colors, I did not expect to be able to capture anything else during the evening.  Again, I was surprised.

Sunset to be followed shortly by Moonset Over the Anacostia

Fetching the river, the universe dealt me a celestial twofer. The setting of the sun to be quickly followed by the setting of the moon had been all teed up for my viewing enjoyment.

Later tonight at home, the news of the attacks in Paris that were happening at about the same time as the last two photos were being taken made its way into my consciousness.  I struggle to come to terms with the beauty and the sadness that were unfolding under the same sky. I mention the bloodshed in Paris because I think that I should.  There's a lesson here somewhere, but I don't know what that lesson is right now.  I do know that in spite of the chaos that unfolded a hemisphere away, a sense of serenity in my here and now has proven pretty resilient.  I'm grateful for that.

Expanding Darkness

The days are growing shorter and shorter.  Today I walked in relative darkness both this morning and this evening.  I really don't mind the dark, although it will make getting pictures a little more difficult.  The rising of the mostly full moon was about the best I was able to capture today.

Moonrise over the Severn River

The weather was perfect with a cool dry breeze and just enough sun to give a feeling of toastiness when wearing a long sleeved shirt.

We'll see what tomorrow reveals.  

Soooo, Yesterday I Might Have Been a Little Bit Cocky about what I Thought I Knew

Yesterday, I showed you a picture of the moon, and what I claimed, without really researching it at all, was the planet Venus.  I then attempted to show my mad internets skillz and talked about the history of calling Venus the morning star.  You can imagine my surprise while I was walking this morning, I looked up and saw this greet me from the east.

The Moon and not one but two planets (I assumed), but which
one is Venus  (I hope) and what the heck is the other one

This shook my confidence in my assumptions from yesterday, and it should have.

After capturing the shot for today's missive, I set out to try to determine if I had guessed correctly yesterday, and to determine what the other celestial body was cluttering up my eloquence with facts.  These folks at earthsky.org helped me clear up my ignorance.

It turns out that I, very luckily, correctly identified the planet Venus that appeared to the lower left of the moon as Venus.  Today, the planets that greeted me just before sunrise were Jupiter (the one on the lower left today) and to the upper right was Venus.

I suggested yesterday that I thought one should not let school stand in the way of education.  I guess it's time to add ignorant assumptions as potential impediments to my education as well.  Live and learn...walk and keep looking.

Don't Ever Let School Stand in the Way of Your Education

Though the title of this post might imply that I may place a value on schooling that is not in alignment with some of my peers, I can assure you that is not my mindset.  One of the things that I've grown to appreciate that has come as a result of my walking is that I've developed a curiosity about the things I observe more than I have in the past.

That curiosity leads me to research, and thanks to the wonders of technology, that research brings the equivalent of a great many volumes of information and data to my house with the stroke of a key or the click of a mouse.  Good old Johannes Gutenberg, the innovator who combined movable type, oil based inks, a wooden press, and adjustable moulds leading to the modern era of a knowledged based economy would be marveled to the point of declaring the internet pur sorcery.  He even has an entire website containing a body of knowledge that rivaled the best libraries through the ages leading up to his contemporaneous time.  It's called The Gutenberg Project, and I recommend that you peruse one or two of the over 50,000 eBooks that it offers to users for free.  We live in magnificent times.

The Moon and "Morning Star"

I snapped this photo today with my cellular phone of the Moon and Venus or "The Morning Star" rising just above the eastern horizon.  Forgetting for just a moment how spectacular it is to capture this high quality image on something that has a lens a little smaller in diameter than a small marble and the processing power fits in a palm sized computer that has more calculation power than the computers that accompanied the Apollo missions to land on the moon, snapping this photo led me to wonder just why exactly Venus is called the morning star.  It turns out that there are a number of explanations, but the one I like is the theory that the planet was regarded by South and Central American cultures as the bringer of light, and they had a whole section of their calendar dedicated to the appearance of the planet in the morning or evening sky.  

Thus, the term morning or evening star can be used to describe venus.  It's also interesting that they considered the 20 day cycle of Venus to equate to the cycle of life.

I hope to live long enough to see the generations that follow me return to spaceflight that gets a bit farther out into the universe than the more recent low earth orbit missions that have defined my childhood.  That would mean that my generation served some role as the bridge keepers to the entrance into one of the finest epochs of man.

Severn River Bridge at Night (That's why it's so dark)

I really enjoyed the journey, from the jungles of the Amazonia basin to the cold vacuum of space, that my walking today took me along.  More tomorrow if I'm lucky.

"Super" Moon Full Lunar Eclipse 2015

Today, with a great deal of media fanfare, the moon experienced a total lunar eclipse that was visible across much of North and South America at a point in its orbit where it was relatively close to the earth (perigee). The media called this event a number of titles, but Supermoon Lunar Eclipse is representative.  NASA took a slightly more balanced and scientific approach and has covered the event in a way that I find both refreshing and exciting.  NASA's description of the celestial phenomenon that we witnessed this evening (if the weather cooperated for you) can be found here.

Images of the "Super" Moon Total Lunar Eclipse that I took this evening with my cell phone camera

The weather was a little dodgy, but we were able to get the family out and about, and at 2243, the height of the total lunar eclipse when the moon was fully within the earth's umbra or shadow, I was able to image it with my cell phone camera.  The collage above is a selection of the photos.  

Once again, I'm forced to admit that the photos did not completely capture the grandiosity of the event that we were able to witness as the clouds parted for brief windows at just the right times.  I'm told by the astronomers that follow these things that the coincidence of a full moon, full lunar eclipse, with the moon very close to its orbital perigee (hence the term supermoon because the size of the moon is a few percentage points larger than usual) is a relatively rare event.  The last time this coincidence of events occurred was in 1982 and the next time it will happen again will be in 2033.

It's difficult to imagine that the next time we'll be able to see this that my oldest child will be 29 years old, and my youngest will be 26.  I'll be pushing 60.

While hopefully not a once in a generation event as is being touted in the press, I find the ability to experience this a remarkable gift.  I still remember when my dad took me out to view Halley's Comet in 1986 when I was 12 years old.  The next opportunity to view that will be in 2061, and if I make it, I'll be 87 years old.

While this lunar event is not as rare as Halley's, it serves to remind me of my smallness in the vastness of the universe.  Hope to see you again in 2033.