Letting Summer Dreams Launch

Walking to work, I have noticed the signs of summer starting. Bicycles, chalk drawings and bubble wands have replaced back packs and times tests for a few months; it is such fun seeing these imaginations set loose. Great empty sidewalk canvases stretch out, ready to be decorated. I hear children calling to each other as they pass by on their way to great adventures in local neighborhoods. A little imagination and a yard or two can turn into great quests, journeys to find hidden treasures and then come home to eat a popsicle or two.

I may just need to go find my own sidewalk chalk and see what imagination can bring forth. 

Imagine a Walk in Space

   I have had a love for space for years.  Something about the mystery of it, the vast size and splendor, it attracts my mind and heart.  I could stare at the stars for hours, just admiring them.  Right now, the orbiter Discovery is in orbit around our planet.  She acts as a home and working place, a place of safety in the void of space.  I think one of the most amazing experiences out of that whole conjunction of amazing experiences would be to take a space walk.  An extra vehicular activity (EVA) is when the astronaut suits up in his or her very carefully prepared, multi-layered, suit and steps outside the sheltered environment to begin a task.  But, in that first step, that big grandiose moment when the astronaut steps into the space and sees stars that cannot be seen through our atmosphere.  I can only imagine what it would be like to take a walk in space, to see the earth and the stars in their glory.  Discovery will land in a few days, returning back to our much larger ship (a.k.a planet) that protects us from vacuum of space.  Endeavor and Atlantis are the last flights, following the Discovery.  I hope that the imagination that led us to the wondrous ability to walk in space will lead us to future walks.

Have you thought about?

   When things are humming along smoothly, it is easy to complete forget about how they got started. For instance, have you ever thought about how it was decided to have multiple branches of government and what each would look like? How did letters become shaped they way they were? Who first had the idea of a light bulb, a car, a computer, or a hot water heater? Who had the idea of the different inventions around us and then pursued it enough to either creation or the encouragement of others? Who thought of wiring or pipes or carpet? Trade, taxes, laws, and infrastructure – it all becomes something that we don’t even think about, just simply accepted. But, each of these had a beginning, a brainstorm and then action.

   There have been many inventions, decisions, discoveries, and designs made. It is easy to forget that each started from an idea. What idea do you have that could result in the next invention, decision, discovery, or design?

Loos’d Absolute and Imaginary

    I was at the Hallmark store on Sunday and admiring the Peanuts display when I saw a little snippet of a Walt Whitman poem. Peanuts caught my eye as I am a fan of the cartoon, and relate so well to different characters there. My hair is naturally curly when I let it grow out, I want to believe in the Great Pumpkin, and I have a blanket that a comfort. It was given by a friend and it’s super soft and warm. Anyway, amidst the Snoopy and Lucy displays, Walt Whitman made an appearance. It was just a morsel, a fragment of a larger poem. The words, scripted in blank ink italics, said “From this hour, freedom! From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines.” It’s from Song of the Open Road and continues on with the poem.

   I just loved the images in the words; they just popped in my brain like little kernels of ideas. Loos’d of limits and imaginary lines. Am I loos’d, do I see myself free? As much as I would probably like to say yes, I’m going to say no. I’m aware of the imaginary lines, most of us run into them every once in a while. The people goo we step in without being aware that it is there. Imaginary lines exist on maps, not just of the international variety but of the local as well. And what is freedom? Freedom is not going your own way and being completely heedless of everyone else. That is slavery to self and selfishness. Freedom is serving, is giving, and is consideration. It’s not being a door mat; it’s not being someone that people wipe their feet on.
     I think I need to pay closer attention to the imaginary lines and limits in my life. Some of those should probably be loos’d.