Public Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Did you see it? One of the more common questions during a meteor shower occurs because the time it takes for a meteor to flash is similar to the time it takes for a head to turn. Possibly, though, the glory of seeing bright meteors shoot across the sky -- while knowing that they were once small pebbles on another world -- might make it all worthwhile, even if your observing partner(s) can't always share in your experience. The featured video is composed of short clips taken in Inner Mongolia, China during the 2023 Perseid Meteor Shower. Several bright meteors were captured while live-reaction audio was being recorded -- just as the meteors flashed. This year's 2024 Perseids also produced many beautiful meteors. Another good meteor shower to watch for is the Geminids which peak yearly in mid-December, this year with relatively little competing glow from a nearly new Moon. Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)

For all you remember,
you will one day forget,
for memories are fleeting.
You should always let

others, you know,
to resolve cases,
before yuor memories,
run out of safe places.

When I was a young teenager,
not old enough to drive,
my father, got me a job,
herding cattle, for a small,
company. I had never ridden
a horse before. It was ok, as the
horse, unlike myself, knew what
to do and did, to my consternation.

Riding a horse,
hazing cattle,
for 8 hours,
in the saddle,
I started to babble,

about all the great,
things in my young life.
I hadn't yet, met my
soon to be beautiful wife.

Great memories, pop up
from my past.
I never thought they
would always last.

Shattered glass, from a windowpane,
lay strewn on the floor, bare.
Was it a rock or stone?
Do you care?

Life is full of minutia events,
about people who, on the street,
have set up housekeeping in tents.
Is this for real on our local beat?

Do we not care for others
who don't meet our view,
of how to live life,
or is it just you.

Out of sight,
out of mind,
yet that does nothing.
Should we be kind?

Training the needy,
so, they can work.
Is this too difficult?
Why do we shirk?

When your first love
has now fled,
should you give up,
now that your love is dead.

I think not,
I said to me,
for I won't run,
love I want to see.

"I guess since all my cronies are throwing in the towel and taking retirement on schedule, it’s only reasonable I’ve been getting calls from the Mabana Financial Services asking if I’d like to come on down to their lavish offices overlooking the Port of Mabana and discuss fiscal strategies for my upcoming Golden Years. Ho ho, would I ever? Course, like I tell Ben, the head honcho down at MFS, it’s a little like saddling up the horse that ske-daddled when I left the barn door open back in my earning years. Earning years. Old Ben loves expressions like that". More at The Skeeter Daddle Diaries ➜

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Do underground oceans vent through canyons on Saturn's moon Enceladus? Long features dubbed tiger stripes are known to be spewing ice from the moon's icy interior into space, creating a cloud of fine ice particles over the moon's South Pole and creating Saturn's mysterious E-ring. Evidence for this has come from the robot Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Pictured here, a high resolution image of Enceladus is shown from a close flyby. The unusual surface features dubbed tiger stripes are visible in false-color blue. Why Enceladus is active remains a mystery, as the neighboring moon Mimas, approximately the same size, appears quite dead. An analysis of ejected ice grains has yielded evidence that complex organic molecules exist inside Enceladus. These large carbon-rich molecules bolster -- but do not prove -- that oceans under Enceladus' surface could contain life. Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator

"Aging is a biological process that no one can avoid. Ideally, growing old should be a time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Aging also has a darker side, however, often linked to disease.....Every second, your cells perform billions of biochemical reactions that fuel essential functions for life, forming a highly interconnected metabolic network. This network enables cells to grow, proliferate and repair themselves, and its disruption can drive the aging process" More at The Conversation ➜

A pang, passed through,
my side.
Oh, oh, I thought,
is this the pain they decried

I hope not,
I said to self,
for I do not pick,
from the prescription shelf.

Thank God, it wasn't that,
and my relief was good.
I can be such a wimp
but not when I should.

Strolling down the garden path,
past Hyacinths, Daffodil flowers.
I notice a new plant,
a Columbine, with Alien powers.

A couple of flowers new to me,
with many a curve,
for all to strike the senses,
when sunlight is present.