That's all there is that separates us from the violence of space. This thin atmosphere, fueled by our nearest star, gives us the air we breath and the water that sustains us.
I often think about how lucky I am to have been born in the first century in the history of mankind in which we could explore this atmosphere and space beyond. As a small boy I witnessed the very beginnings of space flight with the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. I loved (and still do) anything that is aviation related. I regularly heard sonic booms while growing up in Pine Bluff as our military developed aircraft that continued to break barriers going higher, farther, faster. I wondered what kind of jet just flew over that left a sonic boom that sometimes shook things in the house. Maybe it was that B-58 Hustler I saw taking off, low, right over our heads during a family trip in Texas.
These ventures into the skies above us and space beyond give us all a new prospective on how we view Earth and its existence in the Universe. So small. So beautiful. So delicate.
Welcome to my journal of life in this thin blue line.
