For the last three weeks I've been resting my brain in the forests of Endor. The weather is lovely. The evenings are cool and the nights are cold. It's a big change from living on Tatooine. The smell of clean air and pine trees is almost intoxicating.
First I had a visit from Jedi Master Mina, who wanted to escape big city life for a weekend and experience the wilds of Montana... is think it became more like a trip to Wild Space for her... I'm sure she'll be blogging soon about how she almost barfed huckleberry flapjacks on the Canadian border...
I've experienced wading in clear water at the lakes, huckleberry milkshakes, stargazing, eclipse watching, walking along the country lanes, wild turkeys on the road, wildflowers, trees, sunsets, the dead quiet of night... lightsaber duels in the evenings... I still have a bruise where the 6 year-old took my arm off... ;
Once I even saw two cop cars in one place... the fire department siren sounds like an air raid siren...
Yesterday I visited my grandsons' schools, nice buildings with indoor hallways and clean playgrounds, staffed by friendly people. The elementary school is quaint, with wooden doors on the classrooms and hanging signs that look like chalkboards and pencils.
I'm not sure where the now-popular expression "old school" came from, but it certainly fits the playground there. A curious blend, actually, of old fashioned metal playground equipment like monkey bars and a merry-go-round next to modern tubular steel and plastic structures.
My youngest gave me a ride on the merry-go-round that made me feel six years old again. Leaning back and looking up at the tops of the trees spinning around took me back to trips to the park when I was a youngling myself.
Watching my oldest walked clear around the school yard with a female friend ("She's not my girlfriend!") took me back to the fourth grade when only boys lived on my street, and they had all the cool toys anyway...
Friday morning I have to leave, and I don't know when I'll make it back...("I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...")
But it's good to know that my childhood will be here waiting for me when I do.
B-)
I saw a GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY... contemplating the universe, one star at a time... Accept it, and move on... Care for a cup of tea, Master Jedi?
THE VIEW FROM A SPIRAL ARM
Saturday night I took my Padawans to Astronomy Night at a local park. Kathy from the Kootenai Stargazers Astronomy Club set up her telescope for everyone to take a look. We saw Jupiter and four of its moons, the Dumbbell Nebula, a globular cluster, an open cluster surrounded by the stars of the Milky Way, and a galaxy far, far away..... the Andromeda Galaxy... (Pictures are from NASA)
Kathy was very knowledgeable and a good teacher as she showed us how the constellation Sagittarius resembles a teapot with the Milky Way being the steam out of the spout! (This picture I found online, the "doodling" is by me)
It's amazing the possibilities that are out there.... Billions of stars, millions of star systems and galaxies... it's mind boggling.
Sunday night the whole family went out to the backyard with cushions and blankets and watched the Perseid Meteor Shower. The meteors were lovely, but I was in awe of the stars. (I can't see any stars from my backyard since I live in a big city!)
One by one, the others fell asleep, leaving me alone with the night sky. The Big Dipper moved beyond the trees, Mars rose in the northeast sky, the Milky Way glowed over head.
Did I wonder what was out there? Of course. Did I dream of space travel? You bet. Was I consumed with thoughts of Galactic domination? Uh, No.....
Did I feel small and insignificant? Only momentarily, then my grandsons snuggled up closer to me and I realized that I am significant... to them! I'm a gorram VIP as far as they are concerned.
I know I won't live long enough to get off this planet, but maybe they will. One of them is quite the little scientist, he could become an astronaut one day. The younger one's future is still a fog of possibilities, he could grow up to invent hyperdrive for all I know.
My thoughts wandered to our beloved GFFA. The Jedi pledged their lives to protect peace and justice in the galaxy. It is mentioned somewhere that there were 100,000 star systems and only 10,000 Jedi. What odds they faced, but never did they consider their task impossible.
I can't imagine that sort of selflessness. We humans are selfish by nature, we want the best for ourselves and our loved ones. Then I thought about our military, and our service men and women who are out there protecting peace and justice for our planet, just like Jedi. They make it safe for my family to lie out in the backyard on a summer night watching meteors. May the Force be with them all.
Later I crawled into a warm bed and dreamed of the universe. My life may not be the greatest, I may not have done anything to benefit mankind, I may not be happy all of the time, but life is what it is, and it could be a lot worse. I can hear Obi-Wan Kenobi telling me, "Accept it, and move on."
It's the Jedi way, the way of the Force.
And may the Force be with us all.
