A Wish for Today

Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.
- Georgia O'Keeffe




Where did yesterday go (or the last 62 years, for that matter)? Never mind. It's today and it's good.

My friend Greg and I are planning a little out-of-town trip up north to Whidbey Island, about which I know very little except that it was once inhabited by members of the Lower Skagit, Swinomish, Suquamish, Snohomish (gesundheit) and other Native American tribes but now hosts some 58,211 "Whidbey Islanders," most of whom I imagine are descendants of a somewhat paler race. It's supposed to be beautiful country but I can't imagine that it's more beautiful than where I am right this minute. If I'd remembered to bring my camera inside I'd take a picture for you of the view of Lake Washington from Greg's living room window.

Speaking of sight-seeing, it turns out I have come to Seattle at the right time, as even the national news is reporting that we have just broken the record for the number of days in a row without measureable rainfall: 29. I will enjoy every minute, rain or no rain.

Here's a poem for you...

Ride, Sally, Ride

On this day
In 1983 Sally Ride took the ride
Of her life
Aboard the Challenger
(The most fun she will ever have
In her life she says)
Why her and not
Christa McAuliffe
Whose time came
Three years later
For 73 seconds
But no more?
What’s it all about?
Planning ahead?
Already there are hundreds
Of millions
Of pieces
Of space trash floating
In our region of the galaxy.
If we’re looking for an upgrade
We’d better increase the fine
For littering.
Sally was my hero
The youngest
The first woman in space
I wish she’d been
The last.

June 18, 2009
Seattle

BTW, I've removed the "On This Day in History" thing from this site because it appears that whoever is "the decider" thinks most of the things that were worth remembering from history had to do with war. How sad.