Comets, Snaps, and Musky Roads
It has been a busy couple days for me. Sorry I have not been able to blog. I finally achieved a milestone that most of you would have accomplished in your late teens. Yesterday, I got ... for the first time in my life ... my driver's license.
For most of my decades, I have been a city dweller and driving, with its costs, car payments, insurance, and parking, the stress of heavy traffic in urban areas, well it didn't make much sense, not even for convenience.
Now you may be saying ... yes, but it still makes sense to have your license. Once I left home, getting hold of a car to practice with wasn't easy.
What else isn't easy ... is living in the hinterlands as I do now without wheels. The nearest super market is over 10 kilometers away. Still doable on a bike in the spring, summer, and fall. But with the temperatures making it as low minus 40 degrees celsius in a winter ... even I am not that intrepid.
So yesterday was spent staying calm before the test and then celebrating after the test. Today, we went into the Big Smoke, Grande Prairie, and shopped for cars. Like many city-dwellers, a Tesla Model-X is the dream, but maybe not practical for the northern climes and my modest budget. Plus my oil and gas loving neighbours would probably laugh at me and see me a bit as the enemy. So the Tesla is on hold for my triumphant return to a glass metropolis near you.
A Mitsubishi is more likely in my future. Great prices and fuel efficiency. The best warranty. Plus fun to drive. But the sale is not final yet. Stay tuned for car updates.
photo
Onto my photos. The bright red berries are rose hips, the seed casings of wild roses. They are everywhere in Alberta. If you are interested in learning more, I shared more extensively here. The leaves are just some random autumn nature that I captures on my walks and thought looked arty.
The comet shots are indeed captures of Tsuchinshan-Atlas. We were overcast in my corner of the world on the 12th, when the comet passed at its closes. Big time bummer. Two days later though, the western skies were clear enough just above the horizon to make out the coma and its tail.
We were also treated to this string of what I am are assuming are man-made satellites, possibly Star Link and delivering my internet connection. We did first mistake the string of lights for the comet, but a spy through my binoculars revealed them for what they were. Not a comet but still exciting enough.
I have not been completely absent from HIVE. I may have dropped a haiku or two on #Snaps. Snaps is a fantastic new feature to the HIVE blockchain ... PeakD's answer to twitter/X really. (Geez Tesla, Starlink and X ... all roads are leading back to Elon Musk today, aren't they?)
Anyways, Snaps is for microblogging; it is a great place to drop a single pic or a poem in brevity. Near as I can tell, it does not trigger automatic upvotes and so we are free to drop whatever random piece of brillance or banality that may cross our dilbertis or devilish Hivelander minds. If you click on the photo with the haiku, it should bring you to my page. You can also click on the Snaps tag above and it will take it to yours:)
I am finding Snaps fosters better commenting and banter than our individual blogs. Hopefully I will see you there and soon. Don't forget to drop a comment and let me know you dropped by.
The poem today is called Coma. It is a poem pursuing enlightenment. In this way, the title has a double meaning. The icy head of the comet is called and coma and here I implore myself to come out of my coma and awaken.
Coma
my mind soars
out of body
a inter-dimensional comet
radio transmitted
though the ether
is it a rendezvous
or a solar flare
invasion
a whirlwind of messages
pass through a porous nucleus
received, given, and left behind
burnt off and forgotten
my identity…
embellished
incensed
scattered
shed
turn yourself loose
the satellites implore
stop and join us
trade your juggernaut perspiration
for an opalescent sheen
***
Words and Images are my own.
Coma is published in Monsters, Avatars, and Angels. Monsters, Avatars, and Angels is available in paperback or digital through amazon and your local libraries and bookstores. Click on any title below to further explore and support my writing.
