Goodbye Atlantis - July 8, 2011

I watched the Shuttle launch for the last time today. It was a flawless launch, though there was a brief delay at the :31 second mark for one last bit of reflection. I work at NASA Langley, so this milestone means a lot to me. I've always been a fan of the space program and it's been a true honor to get to work with the people who make the Shuttle possible. To share this historic moment with my such a good group of people is an honor. There are two theaters here on center and the main viewing event was set-up at the Pearl Young Theater, I opted for the back-up location as it is across the street from my office and it was also not as packed. There was no cheering when the spacecraft cleared the launch pad, we all have learned the hard way to wait a bit now until that brilliant sliver of light reaches high enough to be safely in orbit. It was a somber, sad affair for the people watching in the room many of whom have spent their entire career working on the Shuttle. The USA will officially have no way to put humans into space after this mission. NASA's limited budget ($19 Billion this year, less then one sixteenth of one percent of the overall budget, less then two months worth of what we spend just on the Afghanistan war) forces the choice between maintaining a fleet of low orbit vehicles like the Shuttle or going for deep space goals like the Moon, Mars and beyond. They are choosing the later leaving the low orbit work to the private sector and Elon Musk's Space X Falcon System which is scheduled to have it's first manned launch in 2014. That seems like a long way off. Godspeed Atlantis!

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Image for 7-6-11 - The Speed of Life

Time is going by too fast for me right now. Once we get past the Fourth of July, it feels like a quick jump from Labor Day to Halloween and Christmas. I've been spending a lot of time on the road lately between the trips to Mississippi and Nags Head, not to mention my daily commute to work of fifty-four miles (roundtrip). Life becomes a blur at times, my own version of "Groundhog Day", wake-up-work-home-sleep-repeat. All we can do is make the time we have count for something.

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Image for 7-4-11 - Happy Birthday America!

I spent the weekend down in Nags Head, NC with friends. It was a classic Fourth of July weekend; hot, hazy and lazy. The beach was covered in tourist. The pelicans glided through the hot air. Occasionally, a pod of dolphins cut through the waves. We ate, we drank and we napped. It was a fine time. Unfortunately, we had to drive back today,  so no fireworks at the beach, which was a slight drag. Any hope to catch some here at home was dampened by a heavy storm front. Happy 235th Birthday America.

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image for 7-2-11 - Train Game

Saturday night dominos with friends. Nothing better. Especially when I win!

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Image for 6-30-11 - Sunset

I did something last night that I haven't done in awhile, I walked on the beach to enjoy the sunset. It's easy to take for granted the beach option that lies just a few feet from my front door. I'm not naturally a beach person, you won't find me hunkered down in my beach chair sizzling like a hot dog in the blazing sun. I do like to walk on the beach, particularly in the off season. I also like a good sunset (who doesn't). The beauty is so brief. That twilight glow is unreal, calming and peaceful and can help one forget the tensions of the day. I need to do that more often.

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Image for 6-26-11 - Hiking and the Bayou Bugaloo

I was off my hiking routine for the last week and a half or so, but made up for it this weekend by hiking Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I got up and hit a solid seven miles this morning. The heat rung me out, but still managed to get a strong pace going. I saw these weird, alien-like seed pods hanging off some trees along Shore Drive and had to get a shot. The remind me of some kind of science fiction illustration from the 1950s. Tiny, organic Sputniks.

Later that afternoon we went down to Town Point Park in Norfolk to catch some New Orleans flavor at the Bayou Bugaloo Festival. I remember back to the old days when it was free and the Neville Brothers would play every year filling the park with drunken, dancing fools. Now it costs ten dollars a head, so the crowds are smaller and less drunk and don't dance as much and it's been years since the Nevilles have been through. We caught The Savoy Cajun Family Band, Bonerama, Anders Osborne and The Funky Meters. My fav was Bonerama, always a good time. They went from "Down By the Riverside" to "The Big Chief Song" to "Helter Skeletor" without breaking a sweat (that's not true, they were all sweating like dogs, but we all were 'cause it was hot). Anders Osborne was OK, basically just played one long jam session, which got tedious after awhile. The Funky Meters fell to the jam groove too, which was too bad as their set just melted down into an indecipherable never-ending series of noises that were no fun. Some folks tried to dance to it, but gave up after awhile. The musicians looked like they were having fun, so nice for them. We left as they were still trying to find their way out of that maze of sound. Just in time for me as I was red as a crayfish and needed some shade and a big glass of ice water. Man, do I miss New Orleans.

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