Olympics and Black Rainbow - Comments and Commentary

I spent yesterday in the shop, helping customers and watching the Olympics on the laptop. I actually have to get some work done today, so I'll split-screen the laptop so that I can work on what I need while the Olympics plays on the other half of the screen. "Needs Must" as the old saying goes, and I have to move along with my life, despite the fact that the Winter Olympics are my favorite of the two Olympic events. 

I saw the semi-final game in mixed doubles curling 
yesterday quite early. Italy vs Canada. Canada, last 
Olympics' Gold Medal winners, lost to a talented 
Italian team. I love watching Italy - they make some 
amazing shots. 

I was taking a quick look through some teasers this morning and came across a large assortment of "Big" photos - large animals, plants, etc. One of the photos was this excellent rendition of the Sun, and the other major planets in size comparison. Of course, the sun never looks large to us - it's so far away it looks small in the sky. But consider the effect of this single star upon our world. Without the sun, and the perfect placement of our lump of rock, we most certainly would not have evolved - good or bad. Although there are certainly times when I think the earth should have been left to the animals, I can't argue with the fact that I love experiencing life on the planet. 

We all know that the sun is huge, but it's so hard to 
visualize when it looks so small in our sky. Here's a lovely 
comparison of sizes, and yes, that red arrow is 
pointing at the Earth. We're actually a pretty small 
rock in the cosmos. Maybe we need to get over our 
sense of self-importance ... just a bit. 

I was able to pound together a story for the theme of "Black Rainbow". I didn't follow the suggested pathways for the prompt, but followed what my heart told me. I moved out into space instead, and I'm delighted that I did. I likened it, in aspects, to our own Milky Way - something that I've loved since I was a small child. I posted the story on my LJ yesterday. It's "friends-locked" of course, but if you can read this, you can read that. I don't require feedback, but I hope you enjoy the tale. 

I've always been fascinated by looking at 
the Milky Way at night. Of course, as 
I grew older, light pollution grew worse 
and worse. It's rarely that I actually get 
to see it any more. I have to be far away 
from the city to get any view at all. What 
a shame, because it's so stunning! 

I'm a bit rushed today, so I'm going to cut this very short. It's a swimming day, and my morning meditation took a bit longer than I usually take on swim days. I'm going to plug in some photos and call it a day, heading out to the pool. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow.