Let's Focus on the Positive in 2011!

Well, another 365 days have gone by! :D 2010 is soon to be history. What have we done with our year, this time period called 2010 that God gave us? I sincerely hope as each one of us looks back on our year that we like what we see, and am glad for what we have done.

Even if we may have lived an awesome year, there's still room to improve! In this post I will try to highlight some of the fun, important things I've done this year and what I'm planning on for next year.

First of all, I have been able to complete some Bible marking/Bible studies in one of my Bibles. I am very happy about that. I was also able to read through the entire Conflict of the Ages series by Ellen White! (Shhh....I just finished it today!) I've enjoyed the Conflict series so much I'm doing a Messages to Young People (also by Ellen White) Readathon in 2011! This Readathon is also on Facebook--go to "www.facebook.com/pages" and then type in the search box "2011 Messages to Young People Readathon" and you should get it. We already have over 50 people who are going to be reading through Messages to Young People, starting tomorrow and continuing through Feb. 9!! :)

I've also had some awesome vacation experiences with my family. We've gone all over the country this year for family reunions, as well as visiting Greenfield Village with my grandparents this year! Don't forget going to the Zoo, or the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, or all the relatives I've been able to see. And then there's the various places our family has gone, such as Cherohala Skyway, replicas of Columbus' ships, and Raccoon Mountain Caverns!

You know, as I look back across my year I find many happy things I've done. Sure, there's been some not-so-happy stuff, but why dwell on that?? In this new year 2011, let us focus on the positive, what we could become and what we could do with God's help!

"We have nothing to fear for the future except as we forget how God has led us in our past." ~Ellen White

Apollo Fast Facts

Gumdrop meets Spider on the Apollo 9 mission, and
CMP Dave Scott takes a look around. 

Many important, crucial decisions were made as the Apollo lunar missions were being planned. One of the more fun, but nonetheless critical decisions was what to name the different spacecraft (the command module and lunar module) when they were separated. Here's a few cool fast facts I found on the names of the Apollo spacecraft.

1. Two missions had very well paired names for their spacecraft: Apollo 9 (Gumdrop and Spider) and Apollo 10  (Charlie Brown and Snoopy).

2. Two Lunar Modules were named after birds: Apollo 11's Eagle and Apollo 15's Falcon.

3. Three spacecraft were named in honor of inventors or explorers: Apollo 11's Columbia (after Columbus), Apollo 14's Kitty Hawk (after the Wright Brothers) and Apollo 15's Endeavor (after James Cook's ship).

4. Three spacecraft were named after stars/constellations: Apollo 13's Aquarius, Apollo 14's Antares, and Apollo 16's Orion.

5. Three space shuttles shared the same names as three Apollo spacecraft: Apollo 11's Columbia, Apollo 15's Endeavor, and Apollo 17's Challenger.

Isn't that cool?? :)
~Photobug

"Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful, and the Fire is So Delightful..."

"...and since we have no place to go, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!" :D

Hail and Greetings to You and Yours, Greetings from Tennessee, the Land of Snow!

We southeast Tennesseans awoke this morning to a land of snow, a blanket of white covering everywhere we cast our eyes. It snowed during last night, and since at least 7 AM this morning has continued to snow (and it's been like 7 hours snowing straight!) Well we quickly decided that since we could not travel to/from church safely, we might's well have fun and call it a snow day.

Which we have!!! It's been snow much fun today, hanging around, blogging, taking pictures, playing in the snow! Mom, Dad, and Alison had fun building Pal the Snowman (see left picture). I took many pictures from inside, then geared up and headed outside to be a kid again. And it was SO much (snow much??) fun making tracks, observing the unspoiled beauty that snow brings to our little lot and woods. We've had a ton of fun! I know this is certainly my first White Christmas!! And to top that off, it's Sabbath today as well!! That is just so totally cool--thanks God! :) I've heard that this is the first time in 41 years that our area has had a White Christmas.

Below are some more snow pictures I've taken today. Enjoy! :) Merry Christmas!

~Photobug

"Oh, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

Hi Everyone!

Merry Christmas! As you can definitely see from the picture (at left), our family was thrilled that Christmas finally came! We actually  opened our presents on Christmas Eve, but it was still grand fun!!

Alison could hardly wait. To be completely honest with you, I was right beside her on that point. (Why DO teenagers have to be more mature and self-controlled??) I receveied several nice presents, including many clothes, a compass/clock, some drawing materials, space books (YEA!), and a digital picture frame. (DOUBLE YEA!) I also really like the money maze and a bookshelf I got.

Christmas Day has had its own share of surprises and fun, so I'll leave that for another post. Suffice it to say that everyone had grand fun!! If you visit my actual blog, you will see below a slideshow of many more Christmas pictures taken by me and my father.

~Photobug

"In the Beginning..."

In orbit around the moon, the Apollo 8 crew on Christmas 1968:

William Anders:

"For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you".
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

 Jim Lovell:

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Frank Borman:

"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."

Borman then added, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."

It's mindboggling, really. How God created our world, Earth, a one-of-a-kind, just-perfect place for us to live. That in itself is a wonder! But then to think that God's Son, Jesus, came down to our little world (amid millions!) and lived here as a human, and died to save us all. He didn't have to do it. And God's created millions, trillions of gorgeous worlds! And to think he came down to us, little tiny us, to save us so we could live with Him forever.

This Christmas, let us thank Jesus for making our wonderful world, for coming to our world, dieing, and thus opening an option that we could live with Him forever.

~Photobug

P.S.--To see what the broadcast really looked and sounded like, watch the video below! :)
You may want to visit my actual blog to see the video, as it does not play in e-mail and on Facebook.

Deep Below Raccoon Mountain...

Today my parents treated my sister and I to the most spectacular treat! They drove us to Raccoon Mountain Caverns and we all had a spelunk-ular time on the guided, 45 minute Crystal Palace Tour. I believe the Crystal Palace Tour is about a (comfortable) quarter mile long.

One of my first impressions was one I loved: they let you take as many pictures as you want!! (And yes flash is allowed.) While on the dark side, the cave is certainly not super-dark and they are many spots with spotlights illuminating points of interest (for example, the reflection pool at left.) There are stairs with handrails (YEA!) and most of the time you can stand up to your full stature. (However, there are a few very fun times when you must duck through a passage, but you move through the passage, not stopping.) The cave is always a comfortable 60 degrees. I loved seeing all the formations, just everywhere. And boy were there some spectacular views! (see below)

Keeping Up With The Brewers

So...about 2 and a half weeks ago Dad and I and Alison were driving home from shopping when we saw all these Christmas lights go by in a blur! As soon as he could, Dad stopped the car, turned around, and came to this house (see left picture.) It was pretty cool, really wacky awesome. The Brewers (their name was displayed proudly on a sign, "Merry Christmas from the Brewers" evidently had put a lot of time and thought and work into dressing up their abode for Christmas (see left picture.)

Soooo.....the next Sunday paper comes and we find there's an article on the Brewer's Christmas lights, along with another family's creations. So a couple days ago our family, along with Grandma and Grandpa in tow, set out to view the greatest Christmas light houses in our corner of the woods.

First we went to this other house, see right picture. From the newspaper we learned that they spend about $500 extra  on their electricity bill. We sure wouldn't wanna do that, but we'll go see other people spend money! :D For these people (at right) they have some 50,000 lights synced with songs, (as in the lights come on and off with the songs.) They even sync the songs with a radio station, so you can listen along in your car! And this photo at right shows maybe only 80% of  the light show. ;)

Now our family has a new saying. Instead of "keeping up with the Jones'", we quip "Keeping up with the Brewers!" :D But really, we don't need to "keep up" with the Brewers or Jones' or whoever. We need to remember the true Reason for the Season, and "Keep up" with God and do what He wants us to do.

~Photobug

42 Years Ago...the first manned Saturn V!

Exactly 42 years ago today, Apollo 8 was launched. At 7:51am, December 21, 1968, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders were the first humans to ride the mammoth Saturn V rocket. Watch this (above) video and see this historic launch for yourself! :D

Be sure to visit my actual blog to view this video! Read my previous article on Apollo 8 for more details. Be sure also to read NASA's article on Apollo 8.

~Photobug

Expedition 26 Docks Friday with ISS

Okay...so I know this is kinda old news, but the 2nd half of Expedition 26 docked successfully with the ISS last Friday!! This time (hehe) I remembered to watch it live. It was awesome! If you weren't able to watch the docking live, watch it all here in this post--see above video. :D

Remember, my videos do not play in Facebook or your e-mail inbox. Check my actual blog to view.

~Photobug

The First Christmas--with Facebook

Hey Everyone!! I was just browsing my Facebook when I ran across the absolute coolest video I've ever seen! It's the story of Joseph, Mary, and the birth of Jesus told as if there was Facebook around back then. It's totally cool! Sorry, I just can't explain it well enough. You gotta see it!

Remember, this video does not play in Facebook or your e-mail inbox. Check my actual blog to see the video.

Merry Christmas!
~Photobug

The Original "Best Story Ever"

¹ Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled.
 ² This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
 ³ And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city.
 ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;
 ⁵ to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.



⁶ And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered.
 ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Expedition 26 Launched Today Towards ISS

Well....I knew there was going to be a Russian space launch coming up, I just missed it by a few hours! :( Here's a video (above) of the successful launch of Dmitry Kondratyev, Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli aboard Expedition 26, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan today, at 2:09p.m. They are scheduled to dock with the International Space Station at 3:12p.m., EST on Friday. 


Learn more about the flight and launch here.


Well anyway, thought you might enjoy the launch video! Remember, videos do not play in e-mail or Facebook. To watch this video, you must come to my actual blog. 


~Tennessee Photobug

A Precedent-Setting President

FYI: This week in American History I learned quite a bit about George Washington. Here's an essay I wrote about him--hope you enjoy it! :) ~Photobug

As the United States of America was being born, why did our leaders pick George Washington to be our first President? Quite simply, Washington was the best. He became a precedent-setting President.

Born in 1732, Washington was the second son of a wealthy Virginia planter. Unfortunately, when young George was only 11 years old, his father died. Five years later when he turned 16, Washington became a surveyor, marking off plots of land in the wilderness frontier, so people wouldn’t squabble over what belonged to whom. In 1752, Washington’s older brother died, thus making Washington the owner of the family plantation, Mount Vernon. Later in the 1750s Washington became involved in the Seven Years’ War, and was right in the middle of everything the whole time.

Washington married Martha Custis in 1759, and married into a very rich family. Washington had been rich before, but now he was one of the most influential men of all New England. Washington got involved with politics and was elected to the House of Burgesses, and promoted colonial rights actively. Later he was elected to the Continental Congress, and became the Commander-in-Chief of the American army in the Revolutionary War.

While Washington suffered more defeats than victories, everyone still liked him and held him in very high esteem. Through everything, he kept his men together—and alive. He did have some victories, and with the help of the French, was victorious over the world-renowned British Army.

George Washington became the most respected man in America.

Footprints in the Dust

Footprints in the dust. What comes to mind when you hear that phrase? For me, it reminds me of a recent space book I've read, and one of the finest. Since Footprints in the Dust did not fit nicely into an Armchair Astronaut slot, I've decided to have fun and talk about this book now. :)

Footprints in the Dust is a book on the Apollo lunar landing missions, Skylab, and even the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). Edited by Colin Burgess, it is the compilation of many writer's works. While each chapter is written by a different author, some authors have written several chapters in the book. 

Footprints in the Dust is the third book in the Outward Odyssey series, the preceding volumes entitled Into that Silent Sea and In the Shadow of the Moon. Together, these books cover both Soviet and American manned spaceflight from 1961-1975. Footprints in the Dust covers the years 1969-1975, and was published just this year!

As mentioned earlier, Footprints in the Dust starts with Apollo 11. After the first lunar landing, one reads about the hilarious Pete Conrad and his Apollo 12 crew, completing the second successful lunar landing in 1969. Moving on, one reads of the ill-fated Apollo 13 crew of Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. I thought that the Apollo 13 chapter name was well picked; it's entitled, "Apollo 13, we have a solution". :) 

I've read the Apollo 13 story many times, but each time I read it the fact strikes me once again how marvelous that rescue was. It's just amazing what people, with God's help, were able to come up with to save the crew. The Apollo 13 chapter in Footprints in the Dust is a must-read. 

Successfully bringing America back into space was none other than Alan Shepard himself.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

It's snowing in Tennessee! Really the first snow of the season, as we just had barely any snow last Sunday (and I wasn't able to take any pictures.) Don't know how much will stick, or for how long, but snow's still fun! :D

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it SNOWWWWWWW! :D

~Photobug

I, The Cat Return

Hi. I, the Cat, His Royal Highness, King Emperor of the Entire House, Pumpkin Pie the First, do return and give you a second interview and glimpse into my ideal life.

As I'm sure you remember, we cats really rule the house. We can get away with just about anything we want to, especially if you have a loving human who really likes you, like I do.

The humans may think they get us felines for their enjoyment and pleasure. I, for one, am here to tell you that that is not true. While the human's pleasure may be a fringe benefit of keeping felines, that is not the main reason.

Cats are above all. The humans are merely our servants. Humans have cats, cats have servants. If there is any variation from our purr-fect life we rightfully express and demand immediate correction to this problem.

While other problems do occur, mainly we will complain about low food levels (anything under 90% full is terrible), low water levels (do the humans think we can survive without water??), our kitty box being not fastidiously clean (some things are just a plain must), our humans not home and petting us all the time (petting me is the most important thing of all!), or the fire not sufficiently warm enough. Of course, one of our favorite things to do is to complain when there is no reason whatsoever to complain! (shhhhh, don't tell that to the humans!)

God's Creations--All different, yet all beautiful

Snowfall in our front yard.
Can you spot the falling snowflakes?

Ahhh....snowflakes, snow, and that wonderful time all children know...when they can go out and play in the snow! December is the time of year for us at least when the weatherman starts predicting the possibility of little flurries of white wonder falling on our little corner of Tennessee.

While our family does enjoying playing in the snow, one of my favorite things about a snowfall is watching the snow fall gently and quietly to the ground as it covers the ground in a blanket of white. (I especially enjoy this activity when I'm inside by the nice warm fire!)

As I gaze out our front window (see above picture) it's really hard for me to believe that each snowflake is different. I mean, in my pictures I just see them as white blurs! When they've fallen to the ground I see them in quantity as blankets of white. I remember reading about "Snowflake" Wilson Bentley as a child, and just marveling at the beauty and individuality of each snowflake. How can each snowflake be different in thousands, millions of snowflakes? All having six sides, all different and beautiful in their own way.

Chronicles of my Early December Life

So. Yes, I am seriously still alive! :D I know it's been like decades since I've posted about my life, and not just devotionals or space posts! :P

But anyway, I've been enjoying life. School, work, chores and reading take up most of my time. So reading is really why I haven't blogged for a while. Yesterday I finished my latest space book, Footprints in the Dust, edited by Colin Burgess. It was extremely good, on the Apollo lunar missions, not to mention Skylab or ASTP. I highly recommend it! You'll here about it more in the future, I'm sure. :) Footprints in the Dust is my 20th space book I've read in roughly the past year.

I have been enjoying the start of the Christmas season. Last week our family put up our Christmas tree! That was grand fun. On Sunday our family attended a Christmas brunch put on by the university at which Dad works. Yesterday Mom and Alison made some delicious roll-out cookies, with sprinkles on them!! I was hoping to be named "Chief Taste-Tester", but unfortunately that role is not only mine! :D

Anyway, above are some pictures I've taken of the tree going up and the cookies being made. If you are reading this on Facebook or by e-mail, you will want to visit my actual blog, as the Picasa slideshow is only viewable on my blog. Enjoy!

~Photobug

P.S.--while you're on my blog, be sure to check out the Peanuts strips, updated daily! :)

A Subject I Almost MISSed, Part 5

What's happening: In this 5-part series I'm talking about the different space books I've been reading this school year. Right now I'm talking about the Apollo 11 lunar landing. There have been alarms going off like crazy in the lunar module's computer, and the automatic system is taking Armstrong and Aldrin into a crater pit. That would not be a good landing. So Armstrong takes over manually, and is flying Eagle across the moon, looking for a suitable landing place. Just one small problem: Eagle's only got a minute's worth of fuel left, then mission rules call for an abort. ~Photobug

Amazingly, Armstrong settled Eagle on the moon with less than 30 seconds’ fuel remaining. Mission Control—and really the world—completely let loose and were absolutely ecstatic that man was on the moon.

“Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

Reading the story of the mission was just fascinating. I loved reading the script of what Mission Control and the astronauts said. I just thought it was really neat! And of course reading about the moonwalks were awesome too.

Okay…now for some more stories. Of course First on the Moon talked about the astronaut’s childhoods and previous careers, which I thought was interesting. It also talked about launch day. Nurse Dee O’Hara, who was the astronauts' nurse from Mercury to the Space Shuttle, teased Mike Collins as he was prepping to launch. I’m paraphrasing, but I remember the conversation something like this:

O’Hara: Hey, Mike, where are you going to watch the launch from?

Collins: Hopefully not the beach.

O’Hara: Well, I’ll use my powers and see if I can get you a seat high up…you know, the higher the better.

Collins: Thanks, and could you get seats for these two guys (Armstrong & Aldrin) over here too?

I thought that was pretty funny. Of course the astronauts were going to get a good seat…VERY high up…363 feet high!

Coats, Robes, and God

I really don't know why, but I don't especially relish the thought of winter coming. Perhaps it's the long, lazy days of summer, of the autumn's glorious splendor, but I don't really like it when I have to wear my thick winter coat outside. Not to say that I don't appreciate my coats; I really do! But I just don't like thick coats and winter cold.

This wonderful event of winter coming is happening about now. This past Wednesday my mother informed me that "jacket season" was over as I dashed from house to car carrying my jacket through the cold. So, trying to be a good teen, when I went to my church work this past Thursday I wore my coat. Of course, I didn't wear it inside the nice, warm, church, but when I worked outside the church my thick winter coat was very appreciated! I suppose I do not particularly wearing my thick winter coat; it's more the hard, excruciating process of putting my coat on and off! (and then when I'm having the most trouble putting my coat on, my 6-year-old sister gives me a suggestion...and it works! Little sisters aren't supposed to be that smart, right??)

I've been thinking about coats and winter cold lately. To survive in the cold you need a coat to keep you warm. It's essential. If we don't have a coat we're not going to have a happy ending. I think the idea of coats and cold can apply to the spiritual realm as well. We have to weather living in this harsh, cold, and miserable planet until Jesus comes and picks us up. To help us survive in this climate, Jesus has given us robes, robes of righteousness.

In Isaiah 61:10 Isaiah declares:

Apollo 8: A Mission Often Forgotten (Armchair Astronaut, Dec. 2010)

Welcome to this second edition of Armchair Astronaut! :D In this issue of the column I'm going to talk about a mission that's often forgotten, and while not well-remembered, very historic and risky.

Apollo 11 is a well-remembered mission. And why not? It was the first mission to land on the moon. NASA had finally completed JFK's challenge of the decade to land a man on the moon and bring him back safely in the 1960s. But people oft forget the missions, the people, the steps and risks taken to complete this challenge. Apollo 8 was one of those missions. First manned mission to use a Saturn V. First manned mission to fly to the moon and orbit it. And first to safely return from another world.

Recently I read an awesome book on Apollo 8 written by Robert Zimmerman, and it's called "Genesis: the story of Apollo 8". "Genesis" is the December Armchair Astronaut book. While published 12 years ago, and it is 299 pages, it is just a totally awesome book!! I choose Genesis as Armchair Astronaut book for December because this month it will be 42 years since Apollo 8 flew!! In the rest of this article I will try to recall some of the stories and highlights I remember from reading this book.

The mission of Apollo 8 as we know it certainly wasn't in NASA's original get-man-to-the-moon schedule. Apollo 8 was scheduled to experiment and test out the lunar module, the spacecraft specially designed for landing on the moon. See, the lunar module (LM) would separate from the command module (CM) and go land on the moon. The CM would serve as an orbiting base while the lunar module and its inhabitants were exploring the moon. When the astronauts in the LM were done on the moon, they'd fire up their engine and go and dock with the CM.All the astronauts were transfer over into the CM, and then the LM would be cast off.

So anyway. Grumman, the company responsible for producing the LM, was behind schedule. NASA had to come up with good mission objectives for Apollo 8 while not totally duplicating the mission of Apollo 7. Well, the moon was the goal. But what kind of lunar mission do you have without a lunar module? Well, you orbit around the moon! So that's what NASA decided. Apollo 8 and its crew of Frank Borman (commander), Jim Lovell (CM pilot) and Bill Anders (the LM-less LM pilot) would orbit the moon in the command module.

It was a bold move. So far, there had been no perfect tests of the Saturn V, the booster that would propel Borman and his crew to the moon. However, von Braun and his team believed that they had all the problems solved. So Apollo 8 would be the first manned test of a Saturn V.

I'm Thankful for Family!

This Thanksgiving was just like TOTALLY awesome!! There was fun, food, games and more. But as I look back on my holiday, I realize that perhaps the thing I'm most thankful for is family.

On November 18 my grandparents drove down to our house from their abode in Michigan. I was SO excited when I learned that they had arrived! (During their arrival, I had been at work.) Friday and Sabbath just seemed to speed by, and soon November 21 arrived.

Now you must understand something. For about the past year, I've been interviewing my various grandparents and asking them questions about their lives, all the while filming. The only grandparent I hadn't filmed yet was my Michigan grandmother. To this end, my first project of the week was to film her and create the show.

WOW. Was I ever in for a surprise! Usually I will only film my grandparents for half hour or so, but my grandmother had so many more stories to share! Stories of her childhood, of going to school and family. She told me how she learned how to drive, about raising her kids. And then there were the stories of all the places she's been, like Hawaii, Europe, and Mexico! In the end the interview took almost an hour and a half...but it was surely worth it! After 2 1/2 days of work on the project, it was done and out!!

As I look back now, I am extremely happy that I did that, that some of my grandmother's stories and life experiences are captured forever. That's one of the reasons I wanted to interview my grandparents--because they are a true treasure. They have had stories that you have never knew, stories that are fascinating. Stories that need to be remembered.

Video on Enos

Here's a 100-second video on the flight of Enos, space pioneer. If you don't know who Enos is, please read the post below this post to find out more!! Enos is really really cool!

~Photobug

P.S.--If you are reading this post by e-mail, you will have to go to my blog to view this video.

John Glenn wasn't the First

FYI: "A Subject I almost MISSed" will return next week. For this week, thought you'd enjoy learning about a little animal pioneer. ~Photobug

Many people think that John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth in space. Actually, John Glenn wasn't the first American in orbit. He was the second. John Glenn was the first American human being in orbit. A little African immigrant monkey named Enos was the first American into orbit.

Enos' flight (Mercury-Atlas 5, or MA-5) was no monkey business. Actually a 5-year-old chimpanzee, the feisty and smart Enos was flying into space to make sure humans could perform simple tasks in weightlessness. The earlier flight of chimpanzee Ham had proven this, however, Enos was to ensure that humans could perform complicated sequences in long periods of weightlessness. The issue of humans performing complex operations in weightlessness was a crucial and important matter to the United States, who was planning on sending John Glenn into space very soon.

Silence

Silence. Do we really know what it is any more? Certainly seems possible that we don't anymore. We get up in the morning, listen to the radio, listen to the mp3 while eating breakfast, and then rush out the door to school or work or whatever. Now I know I'm exaggerating a bit, but I'm sure you still get my idea. The idea of just sitting still 20-30 minutes does not seem to appeal. Or if not that, we certainly don't seem to have the time!

Recently I've been exploring the wonder of silence. I have a little old weather-beaten bench I've carried out to the farthest corner of our tree-laden property in our woods. I try once a week to go out to my spot, and just be still and sit, think, pray, and assimilate myself into nature. About a month ago my parents bought me a sketchbook in which I've been drawing what I'm seeing out in our woods. (Above you'll see some of my sketches.) It's really a cool adventure. Sometimes I've seen squirrels, other times tufted titmice come within my view. While I'm just a beginning artist, I really enjoy sketching and journaling about what I've seen.

But drawing is not the only reason my "spot" attracts me. In my hectic schedule of work and school (I'm sure you can relate!) it's just...lovely, really, to hike out to my spot, forget my worries, and listen to nature. Watch the birds, the squirrels, the activity around me. It's especially grand when the animals come near me, and I get a special experience.

Sparrows, Juncos, and You

About a week and a half ago I had the most remarkable experience. It was just after lunch, and I had returned to school when my 6-year-old sister Alison bolted into my room exclaiming, "Mommy is outside and got a bird in her hand! Come take a picture of it!"

My initial reaction was, Alison, I gotta do school! I can't go take pictures now. But she kept at it, and so I figured that for just the remote chance that Mom DID have a bird in her hand, I should go check it out. And was I glad I did! Sure enough, Mom did have a bird in her hand. I guess right after I had gone back to school this bird (later we realized it was a junco) had banged into a house window. When Mom went outside to look for it, she found it upside down...picking it up, she was trying to revive it. That's when I was called and went outside with my camera to snag a few shots. (like the one above.) I really enjoyed stroking our little friend--I was amazed at how beautiful, soft, and fragile he (she?) was.

A Subject I Almost MISSed, Part 4

What's happening: In this 5-part series I'm writing about the different space books I've read this school year. Right now I'm telling the story of John Glenn, first American in orbit. Mercury Control is receiving telemetry (data) from Glenn's capsule that the heat shield is loose. And if the heat shield is loose...well, American's first man in orbit may not return home alive. ~Photobug

When Glenn and spacecraft got back safely to Earth (the heat shield had, in fact, been just fine) technicians traced the false telemetry signals to a faulty sensor switch. Faulty switches aside, it caused Mercury Control (and later John Glenn) some concern. With this in mind, listen to a line John Glenn said when asked by the doctors if he had any other comments on the flight…He had already answered tons of questions…and again I’m paraphrasing: “No, just another normal day in space.”

Glenn had made three orbits of our mother planet—and made Americans proud. When he back on Earth safely and saw the sunset, he remarked that (I’m paraphrasing) “It’s rare for a man to see four sunsets in one day.” Since Glenn had orbited the Earth 3 times, he had seen 3 sunsets, 3 nights, and 3 sunrises.

After his flight Glenn made a speech before a joint session of Congress. He lauded his appreciation to Shepard and Grissom, and then he told about his flight from Florida up to Washington, D.C. Before Glenn boarded Air Force One, President Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline, met the Mercury astronauts. As Glenn remarked, she put the astronauts in their place when she asked, “Where’s the monkey?” :D :D (Ham and Enos had preceded Shepard and Glenn's flights, respectively.)

I, The Cat

Hi. I, the cat shall now give you an exclusive interview on my thoughts on life and particularly on the intruders of my house. Mind you, however, that I am not doing this because you asked. No, that is far from it. As you well now from the preliminary material I gave you to read, I, the cat, do not do anything because you ask me. I only do it because I want to. Therefore, listen well, write fast, as I hate repeating. I am the cat, His Royal Highness King Emperor of the Entire House, Pumpkin Pie the First.

If you have lived with any of the feline species before, you know that you do not own us. Far from it. We, the cats, own you. When we want you to give us fish, you give it. When we want a nice roaring fire, you make it. When we want more food or a nice clean kitty box to use, we howl, meow and generally make your life miserable until you fix whatever we want. As I said, you do not own us. When you got us, I suppose you thought that you were getting us to give you company. As is supported by the afore mentioned examples, that view is far from the truth. You got us, so we would have owners and masters to give us everything we want when we want how we want. You can never be our master. We are your masters. The most you and we can ever be is partners. However, this relationship is only entered into after many years of living together. So, to summarize this paragraph, we are your masters, you are not our's.

Over & Over Again, Until...

Last week I had the most unusual experience. I was just starting work at our church, something I do each and every week. One of my first jobs each Thursday is to empty all the trashcans in the lobby and children's wing. And one of the trashcans on my list is in the copy room, right next to the copy machine.

Usually this job is pretty easy. Most of the time I can just dump the trash into my big huge black trash bag, instead of actually having to change the bag in the trashcan. Sometimes, however, there is so much trash, or it is so dirty, I must actually change the bag.

And that's what happened this last week. I didn't know what it was, but there was some black powdery stuff all over the trashcan, and in the trash bag. Well, I decided everything was so full and messy I needed to change the bag. So I dumped the whole bag into my big trash bag, and then inserted a new white trash bag into the copy room trashcan. Problem solved, right? Well.......

A Subject I Almost MISSed, Part 3

What's happening: In this 5-part series I'm telling about the different space books I've been reading this school year. ~Photobug

My next space adventure was entitled Into that Silent Sea, and this book chronicled the early Soviet and American space flights. It was written by Colin Burgess and Francis French. As usual, it was an awesome book. (and 383 pages.) I had originally learned of it in California, and so when we got home I read it. :) Into that Silent Sea was really cool in the way that it jumped back and forth from the Soviets to the Americans. First I learned about Yuri Gagarin and his flight, then about Alan Shepard. After learning about the astronauts’ nurse, Dee O’Hara, the book went back to Russia and Cosmonaut Gherman Titov, the second man to orbit the earth. The book continued talking about more Russian firsts, such as the first 3-person crew (Voskhod 1) and first spacewalk. (Completed by Alexei Leonov, see above for description of his flight.) In addition to this, Into that Silent Sea told about the flight of Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. Of course Into that Silent Sea also describes the Mercury flights, of Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, and Gordo Cooper. (I don’t think I missed any astronauts/flights there…)

When I started reading space books back in January I was just focusing on Apollo. But with reading Into that Silent Sea, I found that Project Mercury—and Gemini too, I’m sure—are just as exciting. I thought it interesting that in the early stages, Project Mercury was referred to MISS, Man-In-Space-Soonest. However, NASA was wise and reveled America’s first space program as Project Mercury. I think the press would have had a heyday with the name MISS…especially if a test or flight went wrong!

As If Struck By Lightning...

41 years ago to this moment (11:22 am, Nov. 14, 1969), Pete Conrad, Al Bean, and Dick Gordon were launched on their way to the moon aboard Apollo 12. I'd say the Apollo 12 launch is one of the most interesting ever--you'll see what I mean once you watch the video included in this post!!

~Photobug

P.S.--If you are viewing this post by e-mail or Facebook, to view the video you may want to go to my blog, as that is the only place it will play. My blog address is: www.tennesseephotographer.blogspot.com

My Plan vs. God's Plan

Recently I was preparing another flight to fly on my Flight Simulator game. I was planning the flight in southern New Mexico, and on this first leg I'd fly from Las Cruses (just above El Paso) west and a little north to Silver City. I figured it'd be about a half hour flight.

So here I am plotting my flight plan. For some strange reason Flight Simulator was taking me SOUTH to Deming area then north to Silver City. Why in the world was it doing that? As I said, I only have half hour of computer time. I didn't want to take the long route to Silver City, I wanted to take the fastest and most direct route! So I plotted my flight plan to go northwest from Las Cruses and then straight west right into Silver City's longest runway. Perfect, right?

Well, not exactly. I hadn't really thought about terrain, that southern New Mexico might possibly have mountains above my cruising altitude of 8,000 ft. And my very direct flight plan pointed me straight over mountains, which, unknowingly right now, that I'd crash into!

John Paul Jones: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

FYI: This week in American History I got to study the American Revolution, and in particular, the naval officer John Paul Jones. Here's an essay I wrote about him. ~Photobug

John Paul Jones, about 1781

Who was John Paul Jones? Some people may know nothing about him. For those that do remember him, they may remember his famous quote, “I have not begun to fight” as his ship Bonhomme Richard was being bombarded and almost sinking.

John Paul Jones was an excellent sailor and really the founder of the almost non-existent American Navy. Why was there almost no American Navy? The answer is really quite simple. There were plenty of sailors from the colonies. They just decided to become privateers, not join the Navy.

One might wonder why no one would want to join the Navy. See, being a privateer was a lot more fun and more profitable than being in the Navy. In the privateer business, you would find yourself some partners, buy a ship, and sail the seas until you found a ship laden with goods from afar. You would pull up next to that ship, kindly ask the captain to show you his goods, and take whatever you wanted. You could take the whole ship if you wanted, and had enough weapons. Escorting your captive ship into port, you could sell the goods and pocket the difference. Being a privateer was very good business. You certainly didn’t get paid so well when you worked for the Navy!

But back to John Paul Jones. He was an excellent sailor. Coming to America, he assessed the situation and decided to take the battle right to the England Isles.

The American and British Armies at the time of the American Revolution

Hi Everyone! This week in American History I was very privileged and got to study about the American Revolution. Naturally, I got to learn quite a bit about the American and British Armies. Here's an essay I wrote on the different armies. ~Photobug
P.S.--I forgot to mention that this is the 300th post on this blog! :D

Was there really any chance of America winning her independence from Britain? With uniforms, muskets, bayonets and very good training, the British army was understandably the best army in the world. And what did the rag-tag American army have? Virtually nothing—whatever the British did have, the Americans didn’t have. Just about the only thing going for the Americans is that they were fighting for their liberty, while the British were fighting for money.

What was the British army really like? First of all, they were failures. All the red-coated soldiers you’d see out on the battlefield were failures in their chosen professions of farming, selling or what not. A lot of times the front lines were made up of criminals and drunkards. (Hey, what would you want to do, go live in a prison or have an exciting life in the army??) Living in England, you just didn’t choose the army as a profession.

A Subject I Almost MISSed, Part 2

What's happening: In this 5-part series I'm telling about the different space books I've been reading this school year. Right now, I'm telling the story of Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott on Gemini 8. At the time I closed off the first part, Gemini 8 is twirling around, once-per-second, and the crew or Mission Control can't figure out what to do. Gemini 8 is in grave, fatal danger. ~Photobug

Armstrong and Scott weren’t sure if the problem was the Agenda or the Gemini capsule, so they undocked from the Agenda. But that didn’t help. So they docked again…but still no fix of the problem. Finally, on the edge of unconsciousness, Armstrong and Scott aborted the mission and came home, safely.

Alexei Leonov became a very historic cosmonaut—he became the first person to do a spacewalk. While it may have been fun at the start, it was quite the challenge coming back into the spacecraft. He almost didn’t make it. Thankfully he finally managed to squeeze back inside. But then as he and his commander were preparing for re-entry, the automatic landing system went zonkers, so the cosmonauts had to control the landing manually. When the team finally made it safely to earth…they came down in one of the most hostile portions of this globe—right in the middle of Russia’s Ural Mountains! In deep snow and bitter cold they had to survive 2 days and nights until a helicopter could get to them! (They landed in such remote parts it took a day to clear away a spot for a helicopter to come and land in!)

Naturally the Soviets didn’t let on that anything had gone wrong—as live video of Leonov spacewalking was beamed down to earth, the Soviets said “everything was going fine.” Uh-huh! At that time, anyway! The Americans didn’t know about Leonov’s troubles till years afterwards.

Which happened to be about 1975.

The Adams Boys: Both Important in America's Cause for Freedom

FYI: This past week in American History I have studied about John and Sam Adams, two men vital in America's cause for freedom and independence in the 1770s. Here's an essay I wrote about them. ~Photobug

Before and during the American Revolution, there were two men who were vital to the cause. Their names were Samuel and John Adams.

Sam Adams grew up rich. Living in Boston, he was part of a very wealthy family. When the appropriate time came, his father sent him to Harvard for college. While in college, the elder Adams decided to open a bank. There were backers, enough money, and people who would benefit from this institution. But there was a problem: Parliament across the Atlantic had to approve the action. Unfortunately, Parliament said no. With this action, Sam Adams’ father lost a lot of money, and Sam had to go work serving tables. Sam actually enjoyed this job, as he got to talk with lots of people and learn their view on politics and what was happening. However, Sam was extremely angry at English control. He thought that governmental decisions should be made in America.

Unfortunately Sam had no talent whatsoever for business. Just about the only thing he was good at was politics. He talked politics all the time. He listened to people all the time. He got involved in politics. He was one of the “Indians” that raided Boston tea ships in the much-remembered Boston Tea Party.  Adams kept developing his talent for politics. While good at nothing else, he was extremely talented in the business of agitating. He could make a group of people mad in no time! He even started up the leader of the “Sons of Liberty”, who agitated the British. Adams was also involved the creation of the Declaration of Independence.  Finally Sam Adams became governor of Massachusetts. While he disappeared from public eye after the Revolution, Sam Adams’ actions helped unify the colonists against the British in the preparation for the Revolution.

Joyzappers

A couple weeks ago my 6-year-old sister asked a question. She and I were eating supper, Mom was probably on her laptop, and Dad was probably studying for his next class. Now you must understand that my sister is quite the little scientist. She throughly enjoys watching videos on weather, earthquakes, etc. Anyway, my sister's question was this: "Daddy, what are black holes?"

Discovery Waits On till End of Month

Hi All...it's me again! So there is still no launch for Discovery today. I have a new launch date/time though: with the hydrogen leak and all Discovery will not be launching before 4:05a.m. November 30, 2010. The (above) video explains the leak better than I can. (If you are reading this post on e-mail or FB, you will want to come to my actual blog to view the video.)

While I am slightly disappointed, I understand the reason for the delays. If it was me riding that beast, I'd certainly want the crews to make sure everything was working right! Another reason I read that NASA is delaying the launch is that the launch window, just 7 days long, is expiring on Sunday. I guess they have figured that the hydrogen leak will take longer to fix than that.

The launch window is determined by length of mission (this case, 11 days) and by the angle of the Sun. And early December is the next time the angle of the sun will be right.

So anyway. That's that on Discovery launching. Hope you all enjoyed my "Discovery Delay" posts! :P

~Photobug

Discovery's Delayed Departure

Hey All. Just a few minutes ago I found out that Discovery's launch today is scrubbed due to a hydrogen leak found somewhere. No new date and time for launch is published as of yet. If they don't launch by Sunday, the mission will wait for another acceptable window of time, coming up in December.

~Photobug

P.S.--this is the 100th post I've posted this year!

Wickie Mouse, Gordo, & Eisenhower from Space (Armchair Astronaut, Nov. 2010)

Hello everyone! :) Considering that November is Space Month on this blog and everything I thought I might launch a new monthly column! It's called "Armchair Astronaut", and in it once a month I'll be posting about a space book I have recently read. Sooo....the "Armchair Astronaut" book for November 2010 is A Ball, A Dog, and A Monkey, by Michael D'Antonio.

Remember last month I wrote about the anniversary of Sputnik? Well, one awesome thing about A Ball, A Dog, and A Monkey is that this book covers Sputnik and afterwards. Always before I've read books about Mercury, Apollo, or the Space Shuttle, but I've never read a book on Sputnik, or the world reaction afterwards. Which is one reason why I just loved A Ball, A Dog, and A Monkey!

A Ball, A Dog, and A Monkey starts out talking about American reporter James Reston  his and family taking a never-heard-before car trip to Moscow in September 1957, just a matter of weeks before the Sputnik launch of October 4. As Reston prepared his article for The New York Times, he distinctly noted the difference of American and Soviet societies, and the superiority of America.

However, Reston and the rest of the Western world had quite the surprise/shock coming when on October 4, 1957 the USSR's rocket Chief Designer (Sergei Korolev) and team launched the first-ever man made satellite into outer space. I believe Sputnik means "fellow traveler". People all over America and really the world eagerly started listening for the satellite's beep-beeping. Newspapers all over published the times and places in which Americans could see Sputnik for themselves. Sky-gazing and rocket-building clubs sprang up all over the place. Some were mere amateurs, but some clubs became quite professional. The Russians themselves had made known the particular frequency that Sputnik would be on, and wisely choose a frequency that many people could tune in to.

Almost before America knew it, the Soviet Union had achieved another space spectacular: Launching a dog into space. They called this mission Sputnik II, and the lucky (or unlucky, as you may look at it) canine was named Laika, which meant "barker".