Another Week Ahead

 

Late April and severe thunderstorms roll on through,

high winds, bending trees, flying sticks, and floods.

Better weather has to be ahead, with no more snow,

Time to lay in summer plans, and forget winter crud.

War rages on overseas in Ukraine,

talking heads keep chattering away;

culture wars flourish here in the USA,

can a pandemic-ravaged society prevail?

Spring peonies and daffodils show determination,

push above last winters detritus to display their beauty;

Perhaps we humans can put aside our recriminations,

unify and confront world problems, as it is our duty.

Hope that people do not move things further back in reverse,

while human-made time ticks down the motions of the universe.

Next Phase of Living

 

So here I am, perched on a high ledge, looking back over a long trail taken up life’s slope. Now I find myself near retirement age, almost there (at the top?). What an eerie feeling. How did I cover all that distance? Where did all those years go? But my memory answers “I did this, and that, and that, went here and there, etc, etc.” Goodness sakes! I got the benefit of all those years, I lived life as well as I could manage. I enjoyed all of the fun times on weekends, and endured the grueling nature of workdays and workweeks. They seemed to crawl by, slow as the rocket crawler that NASA uses for their moon rockets. But now they have all flown by, faster than any X-plane concocted. Here I sit, in the Future that is Now.

Thoughts of the nature of time and experience drift across my mental screen at times, while at work. I eke out my last days with anticipation and dread of what lies ahead. I hope fervently that my health will hold up for a few years at least, so I can travel and have fun in retirement years. Underneath it all is the dread of inflation and economic upheavals, and the knowledge that part-time work may be returning in a future year if things don’t hold up well. There are some unknowns that loom ahead.

But the motivating vision compels one onward: To get up in the morning one day, knowing there will be a check deposited in the bank monthly, even if I do not leave the house to go to any kind of a job. And that will be truly wonderful. I won’t need to live extravagantly or travel all over the place. Just to live and be supported – by 46 years in the working world, and contributions of millions of other wage earners too. Hurrah!

The tinge of sadness that shades the final days at work could be attributed to my amazement at the passing of time. Images of past workplaces will surface at times, with accompanying wonderment at where it all went. Some gratitude too, that I was able to hold my own and experience some of the workplaces I was in.

No, I never rose to any high positions, or invented any world changing gadgets. Bu I also avoided the worst of outcomes, and kept well-fed, clothed, sheltered and at times happy too. Thankfulness that I made it to the endpoint of a working life without any of numerous bad outcomes that could have happened.

Looking forward to this next phase of life. Bring it on, AARP – lol. See you all at the fitness center or on the bike trail. I’ll need to keep the old bones and frame limber. Never know, this old codger might get lucky still ;-) Good health and best wishes to all of you wonderful people who actually took time out of your day to read this.  

Unlimited Space and the View is Fantastic

 

So now the “private” AX-1 mission is at the ISS.

Three passengers each paid 55 million $ for the ride,

and are all going to perform research onboard.

The ultimate altruism in action – commendable!

Shows their total dedication to science and space exploration.

Humanity is moving outward, despite the impediments.

Will it pay off? Will it all be worth it?

People are not likely to stop the outward migrations,

because there is so much free stuff in space!

All around the solar system,

free ores and metals for the taking.

Free energy from the sun all the time.

So much living space that even billions can

have room to move around and own property…

The thought alone is so enticing it is hard to resist

fantasizing about ones’ very own asteroid or planetesimal.

If the world can succeed at not blowing each other up,

these coming decades should prove to be amazing indeed.

Good luck and best wishes to AX-1 and the others that will

follow their path to private space habitats and beyond.

Ukraine State of Mind

 

Blood runs bright in the streets of Kyiv,

War crimes perpetrated against innocents.

Troops ebb and flow as bombs and missiles destroy…

And a mighty country is held at bay by

desperate civilians fighting for their land.

War is never the ultimate solution,

just another problem-generating jolt.

But we keep doing it anyway –

warfighting seems rooted in human hormonal response.

Could we dope our way out of these aggressions?

Perhaps sit around a big table at the UN, and say,

“Okay you dope your country first, we promise to follow!”

Trust is a big part of any real solutions,

but it is amazing how much damage that

one megalomaniac dictator can unleash –

no matter where they happen to live!

At this point a heartfelt prayer might help,

to feel better if nothing else…

Pity the poor Earth, suffering the constant

thrashes and lashes from its unruly human progeny.