I was up to answer nature’s call this morning about 4AM, and to stoke the fire to keep the chill off the house. I also heard the alarm going off on the weather station to announce that it was 20F outside, the temperature that risks our pipes under the house freezing if we don’t have water running. So, I put the kitchen sink on super low and said goodnight to Missus, who asked me last night to wake her when I am up any time after 4AM. She was up when I found her and is going to bed instead of waking up.
As I came up to my room and looked out the window as I walked in, I could see that Mars was just above the horizon on its rise. Like the Moon when it is just on the horizon, Mars looked bigger. It was an amazing sight to see! It is just a planet rising, which is does daily. But the title of the post sure is ominous! Mars, the God of War is on the horizon, rising to rule the sky.
On a personal note, I have some DVD-ROMs that my step-dad gave me before he died. I ended up with two sets of them in an effort to read the files, but never could. I managed to get a couple of minutes out of the first of each disc, then it would not play anymore. I never did figure it out. But I found a DVD-ROM while cleaning up the house yesterday and plugged it into my computer in a couple of fashions till I was no longer overloading the USB controller and got it to open in software that has been allowing me to rip the discs into playable files on my computer. My daughter sat with me and for me it was like she was looking through a window into my childhood and seeing people I have told her about, and seeing a world that no longer exists.
The first Christmas recorded was 1983. It was the greatest year I had ever experienced for presents on Christmas morning. I remember it as a time the living room was brimming with joy for all of us kids. Then, watching the video, I came out into the space to see what I had got, which was highly embarrassing because I had sneaked out during the night, and was not surprised that morning and was lying through my teeth. Incidentally, that was the last time I ever peaked ahead. It ruined it for me. Anyway, looking at the video, the room was not near as full as I remembered thinking it was. Our gifts were lovely, but few, and the space far more spartan that I remembered it being. But things are relative. I remember a good childhood growing up. Was it less than I remember in material things? Must be. But we always had enough. Have things changed today?
Mars on the Horizon. Venus is sinking.