Out. There.

 

“Is there life out there? So much she hasn't done

Is there life beyond her family and her home?

She's done what she should, should she do what she dares?

She doesn't want to leave, she's just wonderin' is there life out there.”

Yesterday, NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover, touched down on Mars. There is little doubt, that’s amazing; what’s more amazing to me is.. Mars is 128.39 million miles from Earth and they did it. What would have happened if they were say, 500,000 miles off course? A small fraction in the scheme of things, but one heck of a miss.

A few years ago, and I know I wrote about this recently, I visited Death Valley, CA. Since I have never been to Mars or any of the planets in the solar system, I can only assume that Death Valley was similar to what you would experience if you happened to get on a rocket and head to say…Mercury. (Bring some shorts, it’s hot there.) 

Death Valley at night is silent and dark. I went with a friend and we just couldn’t believe the stars overhead as there are no city lights to get in the way. More than that, if it were not for the moon, I don’t think we would have been able to navigate as we walked—-we did have a flashlight—-but I learned what it really means to be in pitch-black darkness. 

The next morning, we went back to where we had been the night before and it was like a completely different experience. What we thought was a small area was vast; I was trying to take a photo of a rock formation in the distance, and I thought it was within walking distance. It was more than 10 miles away. 

Going to places like Death Valley truly add to what I would say are in my bucket list. I really had never planned to visit, as it was not on my list like Montana during a snowstorm with buffalo on the range, but I am really glad I had the opportunity to go there. I want to go back and I want to go back with the right equipment to photograph the stars above. I can’t wait, it will be so cool.

The photo above was taken by Lake Ellyn in Glen Ellyn, IL. I have been there probably 200 times, but this one day, when I looked up at the clouds, I got to thinking…is there life out there?

Thanks for stopping by.