Contributor Posts

When I was a younger man,
I would see older people,
who walked in short,
choppy steps.
I was in Starbucks today
and walked across the street
to the local Bank.
Yep. You guessed it, short,
choppy steps. Feet further
apart as my balance sucks.
A few days ago, I tripped,
going up the front steps,
when my slipper had a
blowout and I did a nice
pirouette, with a twist
and landed on my left hip.
Fortunately, the only large
rock was there, to break
my fall. I had a big bruise,
but no broken bones. Just
a fear someone saw me
and a big embarrassment.
No harm, no foul as we
would say on the playground.

When the walls of life
begin to crumble,
when your memories
have turned to dust,
where will you be tomorrow?
Who is it you can trust?

I've written of words
and how they're used
in taking you places,
near and far.
How surprised I am,
for while in a bar,
I talked to a person,
about his new car.
I asked about the
Model and Make.
He said to me,
"Why do you ask questions,
about something so vague?
I can't afford a new car.
What I said was a mistake."

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

A gorgeous spiral galaxy, Messier 104 is famous for its nearly edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes. Seen in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars, the swath of cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy suggesting a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy. This sharp view of the well-known galaxy was made from over 10 hours of Hubble Space Telescope image data, processed to bring out faint details often lost in the overwhelming glare of M104's bright central bulge. Also known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy can be seen across the spectrum, and is host to a central supermassive black hole. About 50,000 light-years across and 28 million light-years away, M104 is one of the largest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Still, the spiky foreground stars in this field of view lie well within our own Milky Way.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into night in this gorgeous view of ocean and clouds over our fair planet Earth. Instead, the shadow line or terminator is diffuse and shows the gradual transition to darkness we experience as twilight. With the Sun illuminating the scene from the right, the cloud tops reflect gently reddened sunlight filtered through the dusty troposphere, the lowest layer of the planet's nurturing atmosphere. A clear high altitude layer, visible along the dayside's upper edge, scatters blue sunlight and fades into the blackness of space. This picture was taken in June of 2001 from the International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of 211 nautical miles. Of course from home, you can check out the Earth Now. Celebrate: Today is Earth Day

Sweden has virtually eliminated the need for landfills. Swedes recycle half their garbage, but it’s what they do with the rest that sets them apart. Rather than dump their trash into giant holes in the ground, they convert it to energy, keeping their lights bright and their homes warm with the stuff most countries throw away."  Read more

Image: Malmo Sweden by David Mark

"While there is still time to solve the climate crisis, time to choose BOTH a prosperous and sustainable future, and time to restore nature and build a healthy planet for our children and their children, time is short."

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated  on April 22 since 1970, to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Fifty years ago, April 20, 1972, Apollo 16's lunar module Orion touched down on the Moon's near side in the south-central Descartes Highlands. While astronaut Ken Mattingly orbited overhead in Casper the friendly command and service module the Orion brought John Young and Charles Duke to the lunar surface. The pair would spend nearly three days on the Moon. Constructed from images (AS16-117-18814 to AS16-117-18820) taken near the end of their third and final surface excursion this panoramic view puts the lunar module in the distance toward the left. Their electric lunar roving vehicle in the foreground, Duke is operating the camera while Young aims the high gain communications antenna skyward, toward planet Earth. Celebrate: Earth Day

Lemony cod, warm fennel salad and wild rice. A  combo that requires zero side dishes!  Click to read the recipe

A Lonely Path was not chosen
as a goal for my latest life
Who would choose such a sad
Path? My lovely wife is a victim
of unwanted disease. Dementia
now moving into Alzheimers.
A slow dance of memory loss.
Many moments of indecision.
Not knowing what to do when
getting ready for bed.

Those days of old
we're exciting
but dangerous.
Driving the Yakima
River canyon road,
at top speed,
pedal to the metal.
We would race on
the 2 lane, highway.
It was a crazy thing to do,
but we had fun and believed
we were immortal.

Across the window,
beyond the pane,
started a dance,
Wind and rain.