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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Which one of these two streaks is a comet? Although they both have comet-like features, the lower streak is the only real comet. This lower streak shows the coma and tail of Comet Leonard, a city-sized block of rocky ice that is passing through the inner Solar System as it continues its looping orbit around the Sun. Comet Leonard has recently passed its closest to both the Earth and Venus and will round the Sun next week. The comet, still visible to the unaided eye, has developed a long and changing tail in recent weeks. In contrast, the upper streak is the launch plume of the Ariane V rocket that lifted the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) off the Earth two days ago. The featured single-exposure image was taken from Thailand, and the foreground spire is atop a pagoda in Doi Inthanon National Park. JWST, NASA's largest and most powerful space telescope so far, will orbit the Sun near the Earth-Sun L2 point and is scheduled to start science observations in the summer of 2022. Gallery: Comet Leonard 2021 Gallery: Webb Space Telescope Launch: 2021 December 25

Photo by Matipon TangmatithamNARIT

When you are writing,
there are some things,
which cause a big ripple.
It is the elusive use of
the dangling participle.

Acid etched words
remain in my head,
waiting and waiting,
to be shed.
To tell stories
of who we are.
Some very lonely
survivors of an
old ancient star.

Helen Adams Keller (1880 – 1968) American author, disability rights advocate and political activist. She lost her sight and hearing after a bout of illness at the age of nineteen months. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven when she met her first teacher and life-long companion Anne Sullivan, who taught her language, including reading and writing. She attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She worked for the American Foundation for the Blind from 1924 until 1968, during which time she toured the United States and traveled to 35 countries advocating for those with vision loss. She wrote 14 books and hundreds of speeches and essays.
Quote Source: "Optimism" an Essay by Helen Keller.

This is yours,
it's also mine,
the air we breathe.
A life well lived
is our salvation,
to a better day.

To reach for the stars,
you're best to aim high,
for your goal in life,
is to give it a try.

The first Taco
I ever ate,
was from a street vendor,
in Tiajuana Town.
My Navy friends,
young at 20 years old,
drove to Mexico,
to drink beer
at local cantinas.
We would stop at
the Taco stands
and eat the wonderful
tasting food.
Hard shell tortilla,
filled with some kind
of meat, tomatoes, and cheese
and lettuce. A tasty treat.
So great the joy,
a new food,
for a 20-year-old boy.

My love for another,
is not what you think.
There is no carousing,
or imbibing in drink.
A newfound affection,
the four legged kind,
your newest companion,
a loyal one too.
Here is a, new
puppy for you.
A small Pug,
will have to do.

One step is a journey.
A journey too far,
when you cannot walk
and you don't have a car.

Low grew the plant,
not touching the ground,
providing a shelter from
the rain and the Sun.
A beautiful plant of
red, yellow and greens,
not of this earth
but from your dreams.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

There's a big new telescope in space. This one, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), not only has a mirror over five times larger than Hubble's in area, but can see better in infrared light. The featured picture shows JWST high above the Earth just after being released by the upper stage of an Ariane V rocket, launched yesterday from French Guiana. Over the next month, JWST will move out near the Sun-Earth L2 point where it will co-orbit the Sun with the Earth. During this time and for the next five months, JWST will unravel its segmented mirror and an array of sophisticated scientific instruments -- and test them. If all goes well, JWST will start examining galaxies across the universe and planets orbiting stars across our Milky Way Galaxy in the summer of 2022. APOD Gallery: Webb Space Telescope Launch