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03 06 00
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03 06 00
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I was out driving again today, doing an old route that I hadn't driven for a few years. The MRDD passengers all recognized me! They couldn't remember my name (I told them to "just call me Ishmael" but they didn't get it), but they knew me. It was a great feeling. That particular route goes to the northern end of the county, down roads that I haven't seen in a long time. Winter's ravages were apparent in the pavement; "Frost Damage" signs were posted everywhere, and a few roads looked as though they had been used as minefields. I dodged frost heave and reminded Bobby not to tap me on the shoulder while I'm driving and kept an eye on the map. The shift went quickly, and before I knew it the sun was low on the horizon and I was headed back to the garage. The sun visor was too high and the sun was too low, so I had to drive with one arm extended in a salute to block out the sun. The glare off the windshield was horrible. I was stopped at The Light That Never Ends for almost five minutes, with the sun directly in my face. I saw the sun move. Logically, I know the sun doesn't move. It's an illusion created by the earth's rotation. But I felt no movement. The engine vibrated beneath my feet, but I could sense no motion. As I waited for The Light That Never Ends to change, I saw the sun move from one side of a telephone pole to the other. Not all the way, but enough so that I could tell it had changed position in the sky, sinking lower. There are times when I'm on a bus, or a passenger in a car, and I feel a twinge of vertigo. If a car paces us, I can block out the world flying by and feel that the bus and the car are both sitting still. And when the car begins to pull away, for an instant I get the sensation that we are moving backwards. In that moment, I can see the scenery flashing by... Suddenly we are moving backwards at 65mph. It's an unsettling feeling. This afternoon I felt the world move. I've felt it before, lying on my back in a field, watching the clouds drift overhead. Sitting at the interminable traffic light, I saw the sun move... And I had one of those blinding flashes of insight. The sun was moving, but it was still; therefore, the world beneath me was spinning away. The road, the light, the traffic, the bus, me... We were all whirling. I clung to the steering wheel for dear life. I felt dizzy. I shut my eyes, and saw millions of suns glaring at me on the insides of my eyelids. They danced before me, never letting my vision settle on one, never letting me examine one of the many suns in my head. I felt dizzier. I opened my eyes. The spinning of the earth was evident now; I could actually feel motion. I was facing west, and we were spinning to the east. I felt as though I was flying backwards through space. I mashed my foot harder on the brake pedal, and it groaned in protest. beep beep! Someone honked at me. I focused my eyes on The Light That Never Ends, and saw the welcoming green. Throttle, forward movement... And everything settled back as it should be. I was moving on flat ground, the earth wasn't moving beneath my tires, and the sun sank below the horizon with no fanfare. This is why I don't use recreational drugs. My life is entertaining enough as it is.
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Looking Up Looking to the west after sunset, you'll see a very bright "star" about half-way up in the sky. This "star" is really Jupiter. Above and slightly to the left of Jupiter is a slightly dimmer Saturn, and to the lower right of Jupiter is red-hued Mars.If you draw a line through Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, you'll be drawing the line of the solar plane, AKA the "ecliptic.". All the planets (except for Pluto) orbit along this plane. The line's angle will depend on your latitude; at the north pole the line will be horizontal, and at the equator it will be straight up and down.
______ of the Day Today's kiss is for Dave, just because he deserves one.
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