I Am Astonished

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out 'till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.

John Muir
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Hello Afghanistan, may you have peace and freedom.
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Yesterday I had a phone conversation with a technician from AOL. He was very good, knew his business and helped me out grandly. It was a friendly conversation which took about an hour. Toward the end of it I found out that he was in Manila.

Good heavens !! Young folks don't know. For a man born before there was TV, commercial jets, dial telephones, electric typewriters, space travel and computers, to have a simple phone conversation with a man on the other side of the Earth is astonishing. I like being astonished.

My physical life as a writer is very small and snug. Near my left knee is the computer, near my left elbow is a table with books, notes and about 100 pages of quotations from the wise and not so wise. In front of me is the monitor and key board. To the right is another table with the idiosyncratic printer below. It's a small world.

But it's far from lonely. With my email and journal friends it sometimes resembles a big, noisy party. I have to go on a couple of errands every week, but to just shut down the computer and go for a walk is a rare treat.

But when I go out I enjoy the fresh air, the sky. the river, the trees. I like to see the birds, the squirrels and the grand old buildings. My mind soars. My imagination swirls. I am reminded of the elasticity of nature and the tumult of ideas and I am astonished.

DB - The Vagabond
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SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)

NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.

Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?

dbdacoba@aol.com

4 answers so far

I eagerly await your answer.

DB
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