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What horrors
lay here, within
when we talk of venial
but not of mortal sin.

What kind of World
would this be,
if we aren't
allowed to love free?

She was a serious child,
through her early years.
She excelled in tasks,
while mastering her fears.

Why the serious, look,
you have another day,
with others she knew,
and she walked away.

Life is too short,
she would say with a smile.
You must be strong
and endure all the while.

Live life to the fullest,
when given the chance.
Be a good companion,
while doing life's dance.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

How well do you know the night sky? OK, but how well can you identify famous sky objects in a very deep image? Either way, here is a test: see if you can find some well-known night-sky icons in a deep image filled with faint nebulosity. This image contains the Pleiades star cluster, Barnard's Loop, Horsehead Nebula, Orion Nebula, Rosette Nebula, Cone Nebula, Rigel, Jellyfish Nebula, Monkey Head Nebula, Flaming Star Nebula, Tadpole Nebula, Aldebaran, Simeis 147, Seagull Nebula and the California Nebula. To find their real locations, here is an annotated image version. The reason this task might be difficult is similar to the reason it is initially hard to identify familiar constellations in a very dark sky: the tapestry of our night sky has an extremely deep hidden complexity. The featured composite reveals some of this complexity in a mosaic of 28 images taken over 800 hours from dark skies over Arizona, USA.

Photo by Alistair Symon

Many people are wired to seek and respond to rewards. Your brain interprets food as rewarding when you are hungry and water as rewarding when you are thirsty. But addictive substances like alcohol and drugs of abuse can overwhelm the natural reward pathways in your brain, resulting in intolerable cravings and reduced impulse control. More at The Conversation ➜

When you ask of me,
"What should I do?"
It makes no sense,
for your question is about you.

I love where I am.
It's the right place for me.
There is so much love here.
It's not about I, it's about we.

You chose your role, in this life,
by whom you pretend to be,
for we are but temporary actors,
in this, the life we see.

Practice being civil to other
actors in this world with thee,
for good relationships, is the reward,
to you, when practicing civility.

Must I tell you,
where to go?
Must I tell you,
what to do?

Do you not have reason,
or make a logical thought,
about the news you here,
or are you a forget me not?

If your mind is out of sync.
If you have no rational thought,
then no matter your journey,
your skills vanish as you've forgot.

What a pleasure it was,
seeing the light in your eyes.
To hold and caress you,
then to hear your sighs.

What happened,
to upset our happy day,
for it disappeared
and went away.

I am heart broken
and this way I'll stay,
until the grief passes
and I've learned to pray.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Can the Moon and a mountain really cast similar shadows? Yes, but the division between light and dark does not have to be aligned. Pictured, a quarter moon was captured above the mountain Grivola in Italy in early October of 2022. The Sun is to the right of the featured picturesque landscape, illuminating the right side of the Moon in a similar way that it illuminates the right side of the mountain. This lunar phase is called "quarter" because the lit fraction visible from Earth is one quarter of the entire lunar surface. Digital post-processing of this single exposure gave both gigantic objects more prominence. Capturing the terminator of this quarter moon in close alignment with nearly vertical mountain ridge required careful timing because the Earth rotates once a day.

Photo by Enzo Massa Micon

Ralph Waldo Emerson ~ (1803 –1882) American poet, philosopher, essayist and abolitionist.  His first two collections of "Essays" First Series (1841) and  Second Series (1844), represent the core of his thinking. They include  "Self-Reliance", "The Over-Soul", "Circles", "The Poet",  "Experience" and "Nature". His work has greatly influenced the thinkers, writers and poets that followed him. , He wrote: "In all my lectures, I have taught one doctrine, namely, the infinitude of the private man" More