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The grandest of plan,
at least it was then.
The grandest of plan
ever devised by a man.
It was a great plan
and it would soon be,
one, which changed the Worlds view
of our Nations' history.
What happened on the night,
caused stress in our land
A military, watchful life,
away from here now.
Move quickly or I fear,
you no longer will
be with us the following year.

Photo shared by Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

What does the Andromeda galaxy look like in ultraviolet light? Young blue stars circling the galactic center dominate. A mere 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, really is just next door as large galaxies go. Spanning about 230,000 light-years, it took 11 different image fields from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite telescope to produce this gorgeous portrait of the spiral galaxy in ultraviolet light in 2003. While its spiral arms stand out in visible light images, Andromeda's arms look more like rings in ultraviolet. The rings are sites of intense star formation and have been interpreted as evidence that Andromeda collided with its smaller neighboring elliptical galaxy M32 more than 200 million years ago. The Andromeda galaxy and our own comparable Milky Way galaxy are the most massive members of the Local Group of galaxies and are projected to collide in several billion years -- perhaps around the time that our Sun's atmosphere will expand to engulf the Earth.

When you drag rough thoughts from your mind,
they will appear on paper, line by line.
Are they good or a plain, simple rendition?
Will the words last or leave by attrition?
I no longer know the words for me,
for my heart lies broken, as it must be.
How can I enjoy this messed up life,
when I see the damage done to my wife?

I have a new child.
Not new to me,
but a child, now,
who is eighty three.
She no longer can do,
those basic tasks
nor make decisions.
She cannot tell you,
what any trouble she has,
for she knows not the name,
of any item she sees.
What kind of World must it be?
How do I take my lifelong friend,
who trusts me and move her to
a memory care unit.
It will destroy her. I know it
and yet , it is something I must do,
if I truly mean, "I love you."
My heart if broken,
it may not mend.
Is our life life now over?
Have we neared the end?
I hope not. I must employ
some good things for her to enjoy.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Point your telescope at tonight's first quarter Moon. Along the terminator, the shadow line between night and day, you might find these two large craters staring back at you with an owlish gaze. Alphonsus (left) and Arzachel are ancient impact craters on the north eastern shores of Mare Nubium, the lunar Sea of Clouds. The larger Alphonsus is over 100 kilometers in diameter. A low sun angle highlights the crater's sharp 1.5 kilometer high central peak in bright sunlight and dark shadow. Scouting for potential Apollo moon landing sites, the Ranger 9 spacecraft returned closeup pictures of Alphonsus before it crashed in the crater just northeast (toward the upper left) of its central mountain in 1965. Alpetragius, between Alphonsus and Arzachel, is the small crater with the deeply shadowed floor and overly large central beak.

Photo by Noel Donnard

Tell me a story.
Tell me my friend,
I have an interest
and two ears to lend.
Tell stories of real life.
Let us not do, "Let's Pretend."

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Venus, named for the Roman goddess of love, and Mars, the war god's namesake, come together by moonlight in this serene skyview, recorded on July 11 from Lualaba province, Democratic Republic of Congo, planet Earth. Taken in the western twilight sky shortly after sunset the exposure also records earthshine illuminating the otherwise dark surface of the young crescent Moon. Of course the Moon has moved on. Venus still shines in the west though as the evening star, third brightest object in Earth's sky, after the Sun and the Moon itself. Seen here above a brilliant Venus, Mars moved even closer to the brighter planet and by July 13 could be seen only about a Moon's width away. Mars has since slowly wandered away from much brighter Venus in the twilight, but both are sliding toward bright star Regulus. Alpha star of the constellation Leo, Regulus lies off the top of this frame and anticipates a visit from Venus and then Mars in twilight skies of the coming days.

Photo by Shi Huan

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In silhouette against a crowded star field along the tail of the arachnalogical constellation Scorpius, this dusty cosmic cloud evokes for some the image of an ominous dark tower. In fact, clumps of dust and molecular gas collapsing to form stars may well lurk within the dark nebula, a structure that spans almost 40 light-years across this gorgeous telescopic portrait. Known as a cometary globule, the swept-back cloud, is shaped by intense ultraviolet radiation from the OB association of very hot stars in NGC 6231, off the upper edge of the scene. That energetic ultraviolet light also powers the globule's bordering reddish glow of hydrogen gas. Hot stars embedded in the dust can be seen as bluish reflection nebulae. This dark tower, NGC 6231, and associated nebulae are about 5,000 light-years away.

Photo by Martin Pugh

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I wouldn't call her beautiful,
although some people do.
I would say she's lovely,
but not as lovely as you.
It is her heart; her caring way,
as she took care of you,
in her most loving way.

She wore lovely shoes,
on those beautiful feet.
They kept her toes warm
and dry; a great treat,
for when it rained here,
as it is want to do,
her paws remained dry;
this companion to you.