There's an App For That

It was a moonless night in late summer and I was stretched out on the path near our campsite, just beyond the canopy of the trees where I had an uninterrupted view of the sky. We were at Tuolumne Meadows, high above the Yosemite Valley floor, a place that, in the daylight, would seem more closely related to the surface of the moon than to the vast forests and meadows and waterfalls that lay sweltering in the valley below.

The closest actual structure (unfortunately the bathroom) was ¼ mile away, so after the campfires started dying away, I could easily imagine that there was no light between me and the stars, and I had never seen so many in a single sky. I kept having the vision of a small girl with a bottle of glitter in one hand and a bottle of sequins in the other, throwing them up against black velvet. In some places they lay so thickly you couldn’t tell one from the other. In others, they were much more spread out, but not a single portion of velvet was left unadorned.

And, although the moon was not up, the stars and planets themselves were bright enough that I had a dim appreciation for what it must have been like in Galileo’s time, when the sky was dark enough that Venus cast a shadow on the earth. As I lay there, I felt no more than a speck in the cosmos, as small and far away from everyone on Earth as those stars were from me, completely alone and yet content.

For the past couple of weeks, Mars has hung like a ruby in the Eastern sky, a more vivid red than I can recall seeing it. Naturally, I had to look it up and, on January 27, Mars was the closest it had been to the Earth in almost two years. I mention this because, when I have to take Kairos out at night, I’m often caught for a moment or 10, mesmerized by the astral display and curious as to whether anyone I know is looking at exactly the same place at just that moment.

I don’t know the names of all of the constellations, just that I can lose myself looking for them and at them. And I like knowing that, right now—this actual moment—Saturn has risen, chasing the moon and Mars, all following my Gemini constellation. And I don’t even have to take the dog out or try to see through the clouds because, guess what? There’s an app for that: Planets 1.6 for the iPhone.

Hannah-isms, con't

On Wagner:
"Do we have to listen to this? It's so dramatic."

On camping:
"Daddy?"

"Yes, Hannah?"

"Tomorrow morning, can you wake your wife up early so we can go camping?"

To an overnight guest:
"Hey, Aunt Kerry? Maybe since Daddy isn't here, you can sleep on the couch."

The Weekly Dammit, #6

Dammit #1:
When stressing over a job recently, I actually heard myself tell the girls to just eat the M&M's and I'd make them toast later. Time to reexamine priorities!

Dammit #2:
Why were CNN producers allowed to select the videos for the YouTube sponsored debate? Next time, have YouTube users vote on the top 20. Let producers choose an additional 10 or so, if they really can't help themselves. Oh, and how's about making the images larger so television viewers can actually, you know, see them.

Dammit 3:
Our weekend camping trip was too short, something I certainly never thought I'd say. Camping trips were not something we looked forward to when I was a kid--but this one was nice. Of course it helped that I didn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning, and Thomas took care of most of the packing, since I know nothing about camping. Sadly, that's one dumb act I won't be able to keep up for long.

Dammit #4:
Joe Biden seems to be doing well in the debates, which is great--I like him. However, he will always manage to put his foot in his mouth or just talk on and on, long past the time when his last listener has rolled her last eyeball permanently into the back of her head. He's got the brains and the experience and I think he'd make a great president. But the man just can't bear to let anyone else talk; he comes off as arrogant and intent on proving that he is, in fact, the smartest guy in the room.

Dammit #5:
The new San Jose Sharks logo has had its debut. All I have to say is: trying to make the new logo look tough isn't going to help unless the guys are willing to back it up.

Dammit #6:
I suck at pithy.

Dammit #7
(Really, I should save some of these for next week.)
Every time I hear someone say that the Bush administrations "lies" aren't that bad because "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" is what a lie actually looks like, I want to beat the crap out of them. Not that I do that sort of thing. How can a rational being equate lying about sex, something done from the beginning of time by men and women, great and small,** with telling the sorts of lies that get people killed?


** Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. But I am neither advocating the behavior nor saying that ALL people behave this way. So don't send me nasty emails! (Hidden Bonus Dammit!)