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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This pretty nebula lies some 1,500 light-years away, its shape and color in this telescopic view reminiscent of a robin's egg. The cosmic cloud spans about 3 light-years, nestled securely within the boundaries of the southern constellation Fornax. Recognized as a planetary nebula, egg-shaped NGC 1360 doesn't represent a beginning though. Instead it corresponds to a brief and final phase in the evolution of an aging star. In fact, visible at the center of the nebula, the central star of NGC 1360 is known to be a binary star system likely consisting of two evolved white dwarf stars, less massive but much hotter than the Sun. Their intense and otherwise invisible ultraviolet radiation has stripped away electrons from the atoms in their mutually surrounding gaseous shroud. The predominant blue-green hue of NGC 1360 seen here is the strong emission produced as electrons recombine with doubly ionized oxygen atoms.

Photo by Dong Liang

Yesterday, August 4th,
I signed papers,
to admit my wife,
into Home Hospice.

I am unable to explain,
my sadness, at this moment,
nor shall I try as,
my emotions are spent.

When flowers bend
with wind, slight,
sunlight precedes
oncoming night.

Winds will blow,
tree limbs shake,
for beauty is now,
when I'm awake.

Far below, the surface live,
resides a being, inside
our body, coming from I know
not where it will reside.

When the time comes to
find the unexplained source,
a finding will be printed,
for it is important. Of course.

Do not be alarmed if you find
there is something bothering you
for may be the great equalizer
which we will pursue.

If you are afraid, or express doubt
you will find something new,
a newer, remodeled version
of the same as always you.

Today I signed documents requesting my wife to be admitted
to Home Hospice. She qualified and was accepted into the program.
I was reluctant to do this but after talking with the medical representatives
from Evergreen, I agreed to do this to heal open bed sores.
I believe I will receive good and more attentive care in this relationship.

I hope I will be able to continue to write about other happier days as I find this
venue to be of great therapeutic value to me.
Thank you all for looking at my writings. I always welcome responses, if you desire.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

A Full Moon rose as the Sun set on August 1. Near perigee, the closest point in its almost moonthly orbit, the brighter than average lunar disk illuminated night skies around planet Earth as the second supermoon of 2023. Seen here above Ragusa, Sicily, cloud banks cast diverging shadows through the supermoonlit skies, creating dramatic lunar crepuscular rays. The next Full Moon in 2023 will also shine on an August night. Rising as the Sun sets on August 30/31, this second Full Moon in a month is known as a Blue Moon. Blue moons occur only once every 2 or 3 years because lunar phases take almost a calendar month (29.5 days) to go through a complete cycle. But August's Blue Moon will also be near perigee, the third supermoon in 2023.

Photo by Gianni Tumino

Deep in the forest,
where the Sun doesn't shine
Is a secluded retreat,
some say is divine.

Among the tall ferns
which blanket the Glen,
providing covers for all,
including those, back then.

I went on active duty, in the Navy,
in October 1954. I was 19 years old,
a small-town boy looking to get away,
in search of adventure.

Inducted in Seattle, physical, inoculations,
while only wearing your socks, shoes and
of course, holding a clipboard, with your
records. The issue of being unclothed,
naked soon passed.

We stayed a few nights in Naval Barracks,
in Seattle. The next day we caught a Naval
Air, transport, flying from Whidbey Island
Naval Air Station, to Moffett Field, in California.
I believe it was just outside of San Francisco.
It was on a Saturday.

Being young, away from home, we pooled our
resources and took a Cab into San Francisco.
We were able to buy a bottle from the driver.
Our destination, "Coffee Dan's" which was a
bottle club or bring your own bottle and buy,
the mix of your choice.

We spent several hours there and returned to
base as we had a scheduled flight from Moffett,
to North Island Naval Air Station, in San Diego.

I had transportation to a dock where there was
a water taxi. It took me to my new home,
the USS Marsh, DE699. I was deposited to a
temporary bunk in the forward mess hall,
until the next when I was assigned to my
permanent bunk, below deck, in the fantail,
next to the laundry. This would be my home,
for the next two years.

Of all the days,
which have passed us by,
the one which stays,
with me the most,
are those when we,
laughed and played,
holding each other,
until the end of the day.