Magazine Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

It started with a pine tree. The idea was to photograph a statuesque pine in front of the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. And the plan, carried out two months ago, was successful -- they both appear prominently. But the resulting 3-frame panorama captured much more. Colorful stars, for example, dot the distant background, with bright Altair visible on the upper left. The planet Saturn, a bit closer, was captured just over the horizon on the far left. Just beyond the Earth's atmosphere, seen in the upper right, an Earth-orbiting satellite was caught leaving a streak during the 25-second exposure. The Earth's atmosphere itself was surprisingly visible -- as green airglow across the image top. Finally, just by chance, there was a firefly. Do you see it? Near the image bottom, the firefly blinked in yellow several times as it fluttered before the rolling hills above Milogradovka River in Primorsky Krai, Russia. Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator

Photo by Anton Komlev

No more tomorrow.
No more to write.
No more the words.
No more tonight.

You light up my heart,
when you talk to me,
for I am a gullible soul,
who loves most of life,
even when I can't predict,
what the future will bring.
Bring on the music.
Bring back the dance.
Bring back the joy.
Bring back romance.

A fountain of joy
is what I see,
when I hear your voice,
I want to sing;
Thank you Lord.
Thanks for allowing me,
to do what I do.

The Lake was flat,
nary a breeze.
I waited for you,
on a favorite bench
and idled my time,
to sketch out the scene.
I remembered a time,
when we first met,
down by the shoreline.
A gravel shoreline
was next to the bulkhead.
No sand but a lot of ducks.
Now, as we have aged
and grown out of sort,
should we still meet,
or just do an abort?

The wayward path,
my path to roam.
My travels over,
my path to Home

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The Earth and Moon are rarely photographed together. One of most spectacular times this occurred was about 30 years ago when the Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft zoomed past our home planetary system. Then, robotic Galileo watched from about 15-times the Earth-Moon separation as our only natural satellite glided past our home world. The featured video combines 52 historic color-enhanced images. Although our Moon may appear small next to the Earth, no other planet in our Solar System has a satellite so comparable in size . The Sun, far off to the right, illuminated about half of each sphere, and shows the spinning Earth's white clouds, blue oceans, and tan continents.

My mama told me, way more than a few times: Go to College. The first time she told me that was after a buddy and myself made a deal with our neighbor to pull two of his stumps, I think for $10 a stump. Not being professional stump pullers – actually these were our first stump jobs – we had no idea how long it might take to dig around an old maple tree, whack off its roots with axes and hatchets, put a come-a-long on the thing and haul it out. Like pulling a giant tooth, how hard could it be?

Two days later, blisters on both our hands, we finally disgorged the monster stump. Nothing to it! Course, we had the other one to do and now we knew – and dreaded – the work ahead of us. But a contract was a contract, a handshake a handshake, even for us 15 year olds. So much for our summer vacation. Our neighbor gave us each 10 bucks and no tip, no bonus, no thank you. Four days of hard labor. My mother, on the other hand, had a tip waiting for me at home.

“What do you think you made an hour?” she wanted to know. “Not much,” I said, pretty bummed and very tired. I figured a quarter an hour. And yeah, don’t say it, I know a quarter was worth more in 1965.

My mom asked if I had any idea how much my father made an hour. Actually, I didn’t, not a clue, but I hazarded ‘fifty cents?” Mom, well, let’s just say she didn’t have the greatest sense of humor, especially not wise-ass son humor, so she cut right to her Lesson of the Day, told me he made 50 times what I just made, all because – and here was the crux – He Went to College.

Now, I didn’t tell her I’d eventually have my own stump removal company, hire a hundred kids to pull them, franchise the whole she-bang and become a millionaire when the stock went public. I just put my head down and said. “I got it Mom.” I did go to college but ended up working stump pulling wages at various dead end jobs before becoming a starving artist.

Today I was at an oral surgeon seeing about yanking a tooth too far gone for a root canal and crown. My doc came in, said hello, snapped on some blue exam gloves, looked in my pie hole and said make an appointment at the desk for an extraction while you’re paying for this exam. At most, 5 minutes. The bill came to $100. If you’re as expert at math as me, a college graduate, that comes to $1200 an hour.

So okay, Mom, happy now??

See more by Skeeter Daddle 

When the lights flicker.
When the moon starts it's dance,
remember the feeling,
when you took your big chance,
one step forward; a new romance.

Our brains aren't designed
to retain all of the chaffe
of unused data mundane
or memories of our past.

My enjoyment in life,
is when I find the time,
to write out the words,
for all of you to read.
It brings me pleasure
at this time and I need
to fulfill my hunger
and to sate my soul.

The bite in your smile,
has been gone for awhile,
why does it have to be,
for we were alone?
The crinkling around your eyes,
brings forth, a hint of love,
and knowing the life,
you have led. A World of hurt.
still haunts me now,
as my memories have faded
and slipped, in the clutter
of my rambling thoughts.
Why is this so?
I wish I knew.