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There is an enjoyment
when I visit my wife,
for she says
"I love you" many times,
which breaks my heart,
to see her slip away
from our life's reality.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

South of the large star-forming region known as the Orion Nebula, lies bright blue reflection nebula NGC 1999. At the edge of the Orion molecular cloud complex some 1,500 light-years distant, NGC 1999's illumination is provided by the embedded variable star V380 Orionis. The nebula is marked with a dark sideways T-shape at center right in this telescopic vista that spans about two full moons on the sky. Its dark shape was once assumed to be an obscuring dust cloud seen in silhouette. But infrared data suggest the shape is likely a hole blown through the nebula itself by energetic young stars. In fact, this region abounds with energetic young stars producing jets and outflows with luminous shock waves. Cataloged as Herbig-Haro (HH) objects, named for astronomers George Herbig and Guillermo Haro, the shocks have intense reddish hues. HH1 and HH2 are just below and right of NGC 1999. HH222, also known as the Waterfall nebula, looks like a red gash near top right in the frame. To create the shocks stellar jets push through the surrounding material at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second.

Photo by Vikas Chander

Long lay the lines
of a knotted-up sky.
Clouds, darkly twisted,
corkscrew in shape.
Dark was the night
as storm clouds amassed,
to the distant horizon.

I am embittered,
do not preach to me,
the drivel you call
human Christianity.

The lights were flashing,
with ringing of a bell.
Locked away, she was
in her personal cell.
No gathering of people
with stories to tell.
Locked away, alone,
in your living hell.

Man up, they said.
Man up indeed,
One day at a time,
It will get better.
Easy to say.
More difficult for you,
She will have forgotten.
Anguish for your stay,
On this emotional trip.

Gravlax is a Scandinavian specialty. It's very similar to lox, the deli counter favorite, but gravlax is usually cured with spices and fresh herbs (unlike lox, which is left plain). Gravlax is also never smoked. The process doesn’t take long (15-minute prep, 2-day cure in the fridge) and it is great for a fancy brunch or dinner party. CClick to read Sheryl Julian's recipe

"The devastating consequences of the world’s addiction to palm oil are well-documented. Check your cabinets and you will probably find it in half of the consumable products you own: pizza, margarine, peanut butter, detergent, candles, soaps and lotions, though it’s often disguised benignly as “vegetable oil” on the ingredients list. Between 1995 and 2015, palm oil production quadrupled, and is projected to quadruple yet again by 2050." Read more

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so dusty yet colorful? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes. Fine dust -- illuminated from the front by starlight -- produces blue reflection nebulae. Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by ultraviolet starlight produce reddish emission nebulae. Backlit dust clouds block starlight and so appear dark. Antares, a red supergiant and one of the brighter stars in the night sky, lights up the yellow-red clouds on the lower right of the featured image. The Rho Ophiuchi star system lies at the center of the blue reflection nebula on the top left. The distant globular cluster of stars M4 is visible above and to the right of Antares. These star clouds are even more colorful than humans can see, emitting light across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Photo by Mario CogoGalax Lux

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Photo credit: Pixabay

I am near you,
here I will be,
longing to see my
true love, thee.

I see these scratching,
all my words to view,
about a lost love,
of friends like you.

Loneliness
is now a
part of my life.
Remembering the time,
wanting to be alone.
Now I am.
This is no longer home.
A room without people,
oh, how it has grown
to a vacant space
unlike a home.