A Place Called Home

"One of the most powerful visions I have experienced was the first photograph of the Earth from outer space. The image of a blue planet floating deep in space, glowing like the full moon on a clear night, brought home powerfully to me the recognition that we are indeed all members of a single family sharing one little house." Dalai Lama

We have a beautiful home. It is a little blue green sphere orbiting a G type yellow star in one of the arms of a galaxy known as the Milky Way. It isn't the most impressive planet in the little solar system it inhabits. The gas giant Jupiter has it beat there. It isn't the most beautiful because Saturn and her rings claim that spot. It is home however and at the moment the only home we have.

Like all homes our planet has its good days and its bad days. It can be quite tempestuous with its hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc. It definitely isn't the most stable of little planets. It is a living and evolving thing however. Its tectonic plates continue to move and shift.

On its good days however there is nothing more beautiful then nature. A walk in the park can show the infinite variety that nature finds to clothe herself with. Spring is slowly starting and the trees will soon be budding. My favorite flower, the daffodil, will soon be poking its head above ground in a flourish of yellows and oranges.

As a science fiction buff I have avidly followed the space program and wish we were doing more. I would like to see mankind reach beyond the boundaries of our little solar system and see what else is out there. I do not believe we are alone. I would hope however that we would travel in peace and leave our war mongering tendencies behind us.

Earth what a beautiful little place to call home. The picture is called Earth Rise and when we get back to the moon we will see this sight again.

The real counter is 4651