A Poem

I looked across the green field and saw him,
Tall, lean with brown hair fluttering in the wind.
He stood silent, pensive, deep in his thought.
So strong his presence, no one dared intrude.

I longed for more knowledge, so on a whim,
I crossed as if I did not comprehend
His presence here meant solace he had sought.
I tried to seem as if caught in a brood.

Stealing a glance, his chiseled face was grim,
Fixed in a gaze that nothing could transcend.
Not in this world, but beyond, he was caught.
What thoughts behind the mask were locked in feud?

Eyes so blue that caught the light yet were dim
Seemed to see the wind and refused to bend
To its control. The man stood still yet fought
An unknown battle that did not conclude.

To learn more on a casual talk seemed slim.
So I decided this effort to end.
His small attempt at some peace seemed hard bought.
This world and its intrusions he eschewed.

I walked away slowly but could not free
My mind of the man who mystified me.

Chaos and Mayhem

Chaos cha⋅os  /ˈkeɪɒs/ [key-os]
–noun
1. a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order.
2. any confused, disorderly mass: a chaos of meaningless phrases.

Mayhem may⋅hem  /ˈmeɪhɛm, ˈmeɪəm/ [mey-hem, mey-uhm]
–noun
1. Law. the crime of willfully inflicting a bodily injury on another so as to make the victim less capable of self-defense or, under modern statutes, so as to cripple or mutilate the victim.
2. random or deliberate violence or damage.
3. a state of rowdy disorder: Antagonisms between the various factions at the meeting finally boiled over, and mayhem ensued.

Well, there's no actual crime going on, not a legal one. But certainly a moral one. Killing my soul. The longer I have to live in this world, the more I detest it. I can't wait to get out of it and get to a place where "they" can't get to me...because I don't expect many, if any, of them to be there.

Koo-rah

Koo-rah, koo-rah, koo-rah. It's another creen day. We will rise and splahr and quesh on this day. It's never out of fah to rake about the reet and to try to kresh the meet and go without a preat. We all know what it's like to rush around the way, and come and fall together all around the fray. It's all about the grane and no one knows that more than the one who arrives first and throws around his snore. It's never been so bray as always on this day. So rise up early now and don't get left aloof. We've got to loft our whens and get above the crowd. It's never too late to catch a lonely cow. So bring your socks along and don't get left behind. We're off right now to join, so dress on the way. We'll see you later on when all the krinks begin. And don't forget to start to open in the len.

Birth

Birth
B. L. Lindley Anderson

When Tsiolkovsky glanced on high
To consider his cradle of birth,
He knew then that he could not stay
And built a plan to rise from earth.

The End of the Story

I don't like being so self-satisfied. I know I risk being over bearing when I am.

Recall from Monday the tale of the sketch. I did print a copy of the sketch for Dr. Griffin, as he requested. Rather than getting it ready to mail, I decided to attempt a different approach. On Tuesday there was an all-hands meeting for MSFC employees with Dr. Griffin. I had known this was coming. So, I went to the meeting armed with the sketch, but not with hopes too high. I didn't expect the chance to approach him...but even if the chance was there, I had to try. The people running this were very strict about his time and asked people not to come down afterwards because Dr. Griffin had a luncheon speech and had to stay on schedule. Ah well...

But...a fellow went down anyway with a book for Dr. Griffin to sign; Dr. Griffin was the author. So I thought, what the heck, and down I went.

That's when I ran into the same public affairs lady that had given me a hard time about getting the STS-120 crew to sign one of my paintings. She was shaking her head and waving her hands at me. I told her I just wanted to hand this folder to Dr. Griffin. And that's when he turned to me. I introduced myself and he recalled. He accepted the folder and started showing the sketch to everyone. He was very pleased. Then there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned and a lady grabbed my hand and introduced herself as Dr. Griffin's wife. She said she was so pleased she had a chance to meet me. She loved the sketch, saying that it was next to impossible to get Mike to sit for photos. The two of them were just wonderful, very nice and gracious. So I pushed my luck and asked him if I sent him a copy of the sketch if he'd sign it for me. "Of course I will!"

This is the third run-in I've had with Ms. PR...and her eyes were shooting daggers. Who cares? Nothing can upset me today. :D As Steve said, "he's just a regular engineer like you and me."

Imagine that

Let me introduce you. This is Michael Griffin, current NASA administrator. I did the drawing, intrigued by the intense concentration in a photo of Dr. Griffin watching a launch. I hung up a copy at work and that was basically it. Until yesterday when a close friend, Steve, urged me to email it to Dr. Griffin. Well...I didn't know about that. It seemed bold and probably a breech of some special protocol on who could contact the administrator. Steve strongly urged me...and I decided to give it a go. I wondered what awaited me...being ignored, chastised... But I got a very nice note from the administrator and a request for a print...signed by me. Well, imagine that. We actually exchanged a couple of emails and he's quite pleasant, and amusing. I'm sure it is of little or no interest to anyone but myself, but I'm quite pleased...

ISS sighting

Last night my dearest friend, better half and I were found in the street before our house, standing and staring into the sky. The advantage of living on a quite unbusy street is the ability to do this without disrupting the flow of traffic. Then there was the cry, "There it is!"

"It" is the International Space Station. That technical wonder that circles above us, occupied for nearly upon ten years now, built by tedious labor of astronauts in hundreds of hours of EVAs made more difficult by the lack of gravity and air. That only makes it more amazing in what they have accomplished.

The ISS has grown more than most people imagine. So many have seen photos of it, but don't truly have the idea of just how big it truly is, particularly inside. At any rate, it is now big enough that it rivals the planet Venus in size and visible magnitude. I'm sure it likely has been ID'ed as a UFO as well.

Though I well understand the orbital mechanics at work, it still amazes me to look up and see the ISS appear just at the time predicted, to watch it gracefully sail over head and disappear rather suddenly as it passes the terminator into, what is for the ISS, night time. And the think that there are three space travelers--scientists--on this light racing across the sky, nearing the end of their six month stay. Have they really been up there so long, and I have seldom noted their passage? I see it on NASA TV and still am rather astounded to see ISS hurry away from my wondering eyes.

NASA maintains a web site listing ISS sitings for locations in the US. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/skywatch.cgi?country=United+States I recommend experiencing this at least one time. It never ceases to put my mind into consideration of place in universe and life, something that is more needed among all peoples at such a time as this.