Magazine Posts

Cast out the light.
Light up my mind.
Help me help others.
Help me be kind.

Lieing close beside you,
your shoulder pillows my head.
Wondering if God is missing
in this troubling life we've led.
Holding you, in my arms,
I listen to you breathe
and know how hard it'll be
when God says to leave.

Photo by David Marcu on Unsplash

The light in the window,
The wind as it sighs,
Reminds me of you
And the look in your eyes.
Your Soul is very precious,
Asking the questions of "Why's.
Why am I the
Way that I am?
Does my answer mean
I'm less than a man?
I care about you
And say every day,
What can I do
To take the emptiness away.

Happy New Year, darling.
May it be a better time,
full of joy and laughter,
singing Auld Lang Syne.

She knows me not.
I know her well.
My lovely wife's mind
Is in Dementia Hell.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The small, northern constellation Triangulum harbors this magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy. M33 is over 50,000 light-years in diameter, third largest in the Local Group of galaxies after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3 million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 is itself thought to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy and astronomers in these two galaxies would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star systems. As for the view from planet Earth, this sharp image shows off M33's blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions along the galaxy's loosely wound spiral arms. In fact, the cavernous NGC 604 is the brightest star forming region, seen here at about the 7 o'clock position from the galaxy center. Like M31, M33's population of well-measured variable stars have helped make this nearby spiral a cosmic yardstick for establishing the distance scale of the Universe.

Photo by Rui Liao

"Christmas gift?" I asked.
"Yep," said the dad, as his son, Joel, 11, took the green kayak out on its maiden voyage on Lake Ballinger. I said, "He didn't want a video game for Christmas?"
The dad said, "No, he also wanted a tent. It's a bit cold to try that out today." 

As Joel paddled over 200 feet away from the dock, Dad said, "Joel, don't go too far!" Mom yelled, "Go out as far as you want, Joel! Don't worry about Dad."
Lake Ballinger, Mountlake Terrace, 12-25-19.

Cunning, is the Fox,
laying in the field,
waiting, ever waiting
to catch its next meal.
Comes a mouse now,
scurrying on the grassy ground,
while the Fox, waiting patiently
makes nary a sound.

Photo by Qingbao Meng on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The beautiful Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20, is easy to find with a small telescope in the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. About 5,000 light-years away, the colorful study in cosmic contrasts shares this well-composed, nearly 1 degree wide field with open star cluster Messier 21 (top left). Trisected by dust lanes the Trifid itself is about 40 light-years across and a mere 300,000 years old. That makes it one of the youngest star forming regions in our sky, with newborn and embryonic stars embedded in its natal dust and gas clouds. Estimates of the distance to open star cluster M21 are similar to M20's, but though they share this gorgeous telescopic skyscape there is no apparent connection between the two. In fact, M21's stars are much older, about 8 million years old.

Photo by Stanislav Volskiy