cosmic payback

extraterrestrial actions

Annapolis received 1.62 inches of rain before 5 pm Sunday when the local paper evidently goes to press. That is most welcome news. It was actually deliciously cool (relative phrase, of course) walking at 6.10 this morning. The sky is a beautiful mixture of clouds and sunshine as we advance into this middle of July week.

Baseball is on hold for the annual break-I mean All-Star Game—while basketball and hockey take their two hours off (it seems that is about the time between seasons these days) while football players must be stealing themselves for upcoming two-a-days in the heat confronting so much of the country. President Biden is in the United Kingdom, explaining to the Prime Minister why we opposed a British candidate as the next NATO Secretary General, then meeting with King Charles (still sounds weird but I am a slow learner) about climate issues. We hear Vlad the Impaler met his alleged adversary Yvegeny Prigozhin but that entire tale gets weirder by the day. Congress returns after its mid-summer’s ‘district’ time but it’s far from clear they will accomplish much as the profound divisions within and between the two parties remain

.

Many problems remain around the world, some immediate and dangerous (weather-related concerns) while others have the potential to grow and/or endure (tensions in the MIddle East, the encounters between various states and China’s forces in the western Pacific, and the slog of war in Ukraine, among others).

Yet, news reports indicate we are entering a few days when the Northern Lights, that miraculous gift bound to create joy for those who witness it, is showing up again in the northern tier of this country. I have to assume our readers in the United Kingdom may well receive a summer visit from this delight. We have the sun to thank for its emissions last week, if I read the report correctly.

I think it’s some cosmic payback for what we endure day to day, what tires us about our interactions with each other, and what worries us into the future. In any case, welcome the diversion—a legal, free, and non-partisan one—with open arms as it seems unlikely to create too many problems. It falls into the category of Solar Actions Create Oohs and Ahhs.

I have yet to see the Northern Lights but have, of course, seen hundreds of photographs of multi-coloured light dancing across the sky. The pictures alone are mesmerising; I imagine the live experience must be simply glorious.

Take time to go out this week, if you are in the band where the predicted show will occur, to share in this extra-terrestrial gift during an

y cloudfree evenings. We are so lucky to see it, reminding us of surprises ahead in life that bring us much joy if we take time to remember them. FIN