For visually impaired and blind folks: The picture is a close up of a bird snuggled into a towel with the words "Not interested." on a lower left to upper right slant.
Housemate and I were watching a space program tonight on the science channel. The show featured two prominent physicists who discussed notions such as orbits, The Goldilocks Zone, pulsar planets, binary white dwarf stars, and supernovas. It was information that was easily digestible, I thought.
I thought some more. And I thought a "What if." What if some percentage of planets in any given solar system were altering their orbits [or their orbits were being altered for some unnamed reason or reasons] over a given amount of time with such slow subtle-ness that we did not realize it and were not able to catch the alternation with any of the existing computer models or super-duper telescopes and stuff? And what if some planets were slowly making their way closer to their sun and others were slowly making their way farther from their sun? And what if some number of those planets started off as frozen ice-balls and then advanced into The Goldilocks Zone and then advanced closer to their sun where they burst into dust motes to be shifted far away and eventually nano-particles of the former planets reformed into ice-balls and so on?
Some unknown number [to us] of planets in some unknown number of solar systems in some unknown number of galaxies would at any one nano-second of time be in The Goldilocks Zone and thus capable of breeding lifeforms. Who's to say that life on any given planet would develop to look or act like us? Perhaps even some lifeforms tonight are sitting in front of what the equivalent of their television sets watching a program about space and wondering if theirs is the only inhabitable planet.
I was excited about these thoughts but housemate was not interested at all. Housemate's loss.
Dad is beyond the point of wondering about things other than the mundane. His wonderings are now limited to things like what today is and why isn't the [old, no longer in service] cellphone working. When I was a kid, Dad listened to my questions and endeavored to provide whatever answers he could. I miss that.
At some point in the haphazard progression that is Lewey Bodies Dementia, Dad will probably wonder who I am-- if he lives long enough. And at some point, he will not be able to wonder at all anymore.
sapphoq on life says: I hope that I will always keep my fascination with nature and the universe and everything. If I ever get any form of dementia, I hope that I will at least remember to quit driving right away and I hope that I will endeavor to accept the help that is offered to me. Until that time-- if it ever comes-- I hope that I live everyday celebrating the incredible gift that is life.