Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Future is Closer Than You Think
WHEN I WAS IN THE 7TH GRADE, I WROTE A STORY ABOUT THE FUTURE. THE YEAR WAS 1964, and I projected to the year 1991. To me, 1991 was a huge leap. After all, the expanse of my ENTIRE life up to that point was only 13 years. In my story, we were already exploring the planet Mars, and that’s where the story went, well, really science fiction-like. Our American astronauts had landed on the red planet, and one-by-one were being attacked and eaten by alien beings. I still have that story somewhere, standard notebook paper stapled together like a manuscript ready to be published. I was really proud of it. The final draft was the best cursive handwriting I could muster up in my 13 year old hands.
The space race was in full swing at the time, thanks to JFK, and I watched and worried about every space launch like I was there with them. I watched every splash down, and was in awe of Alan Shepherd and John Glenn. I saved every newspaper of every launch—and still have them to this day. One of my earliest memories, btw, was in 1957. I was only 6 years old, and my father took me to the edge of town (away from the city lights) and we watched the Russian Sputnik satellite pass over head. Standing in a field with a few other people from other cars (headlights off) was freaky and I have never forgotten it.
So enjoy this video from YouTube... and remember—the “future” is closer than you think.
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4 comments:
We stood in the front yard with a telescope looking for Sputnik. I remember singing the One Eyed One Horn Flying Purple People Eater while spinning 4 or 5 hula hoops in contests with my friends.
Hey Maureen, and were you wearing saddle shoes and a poodle skirt? That's great!
I worried for the monkeys they sent in space.
As a matter of fact, I did have saddle shoes and more than one poodle skirt! I also had a crinoline slip with an inflatable inner-tube to make my circle skirts stick out but impossible to sit down in. Totally forgot about that. Went the way of my umbrella hat from an earlier part of my childhood.
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