Nov 11 2008
Oh Say, Have You Seen?
The Good | God Bless America (both continents!)
Recently it seems that everyone and their little dog have been going on far-flung vacations. I’ve only left the country a handful of times, including once to dip into Mexico when I was quite young and twice to hit up Canada for a diner visit and Phantom tickets in Toronto. I’ve certainly never left the continent.
Many of my friends have been able to go to Europe, to island paradises and more. As much as I’ve always wanted to explore the world, as does anyone at some point - especially if that point is in your youth - I find it both humbling and exciting to know just what diversity is in store exploring my own country here in the United States.
There’s a bit of a macrocosm fascination I have that’s going on, that I’d like to see dialed down, though I could stand for circumstances transpiring either way. I’m all for space exploration. There are so many technologies and other inventions provided by our space program that it literally boggles my mind.
That’s not just some lump sum statement like people make because they heard something on the news and felt it was agreeable to their disposition. I’ve studied it, I’ve been to Cape Canaveral, and while the list is too long for the scope of this entry, it’s more than worth doing research of your own.
That said, I’m a big proponent of going to Mars. However, just as you could not pay me enough to be president, I don’t think I could fathom making it through six months of spaceflight trapped in a box with a bunch of other people only to explore a giant, rusty, mood-swinging hurricane.
There’s gotta be a reason to go, though, and there is. So I’m for it. People will cry, “Why go to Mars when our moon, Luna, remains unexplored?” Others still will cry, “Why go back to the Moon when our ocean’s aren’t yet fully understood?”
To those last people I say, I haven’t explored the land. Paris would make for a nice trip, but I have a picture of Utah on my U.S. Atlas that looks mighty fine, and I hear the air ain’t half bad there either.
