NEAR EARTH ASTEROID IS CLOSE

A huge asteroid will sweep by Earth on September 1^st.  “Florence” is the largest object on record to come this close since NASA began tracking these types of near-Earth asteroids. 

The space rock measures 2.7 miles across and will pass by Earth at a distance of 4.4 million miles. This is called a “safe close shave”.

As this asteroid flies by, astronomers will capture radar images to learn more about its exact size and detailed surface features.

You can view this event through telescopes now as Florence begins to brighten in the night sky and streak through the constellations Piscis Austrinus, Capricornus, Aquarius and Delphinus.

The flyby this Friday is the asteroid's closest approach since 1890 and it won't get this close to Earth again until after 2500. 

Kaye Manro
info and trajectory graphic
from space.com

DANCING SHOES

Dancing Shoes

though the distances divide us

there's a paradise inside us we can't lose

and I pray you'll never shed your 

dancing shoes....

She had loved him so…

It wasn’t the first time she’d fallen in love. But she wished it would be the last. He’d taken her deep inside the most beautiful profound love she could ever imagine.

And left her there. Alone.

Not because he didn’t love her but because he just couldn’t be in this world with her any longer. After the tears were done, she knew she would keep her promise to him... 

“Never stop the dance," he had said near the end, "never shed your dancing shoes, promise me…"

And so she carried the pink satin shoes in her hands and sat down on the floor in front of the large mirror to don them. These were the ones he’d given her. 

Pushing her toes inside, they fit her feet snugly, perfectly. She tied the matching ribbons around her ankles and stood up stretching on pointe to her toes.  She watched her reflection in the studio mirror as she worked her feet and body into the positions of a dancer.

This was a special day. The day she would create the Dance just for him. She began to move and glide across the wooden floor, dipping downward and up again, turning on her toes and reaching skyward…

There was no music, no accompaniment, just her shoes and her body moving through space, reaching past time. Spinning faster and faster around the floor.

 Suddenly she stopped in mid-flight and gasped.

 For an instant, she saw him standing before her reaching out to touch her, feel her. But his image faded as quickly as it had appeared.

She felt the emptiness of being alone surrounding her. He wasn’t there. It was just her imagination, her longing, her own feelings playing tricks on her.

She stood still and squeezed her eyes closed breathing in deep.

 “I love you so much,” she said aloud.

It wasn’t as if she saw him again. But in that moment, she felt his presence, knew he was near. And then she heard clearer than truth itself,

“I love you too, and I always will. Never forget.”

It was awhile before she opened her eyes again and smiled. But now she knew. Knew beyond doubt that he would always be close to her, never far away at all.

Her body soared as she began to dance and move and twirl and spin.

Always she would dance for him…

Always.

Story by 
Kaye Manro

(opening lyrics by Dan Fogelberg)

© copyright Kaye Manro 2017

COSMIC SOLAR EVENT NOT TO BE MISSED

The very young don't always do what they are told...

The line above came from a SG1 episode called The Nox. At the time I watched STARGATE often. 

That particular line wasn’t about children following parent’s instructions. But an advanced alien culture who gave advice to a not so advanced one that didn’t listen. And chaos ensued. Which did.

Thinking about it as I plan on work writing my own version of Sci Fi stories, the line hit a note in me. We are on the cusp of a truly fantastic cosmic event trekking directly across the middle of US from coat to coast. That doesn’t happen often. And I’m sure everyone has heard about it.  

A Total Solar Eclipse will occur on August 21. Simply put, the moon lines up to travel directly in front of the sun causing the earth and sun to appear in darkness. See it for just a few minutes at each location as its path treks across the sky straight through the middle of the United States. And it tracks close to my area. At the precise time step outside, wear those nifty solar eclipse glasses, look toward the sun and there it is.

All of this sounds so exciting to a Sci Fi girl like me. But there is a catch. If you are outside and you want to watch this event you must wear the Nasa-certified protective glasses. NASA warns that if you look directly at the Solar Eclipse with the naked eye you could damage your retina. And finding a pair of these special eye saving glasses at this late date is rare. So, if you don’t already have yours and can’t score a pair, don't look up! There are many other ways to watch this event.

NASA will stream the Sun’s entire Eclipse path across the country. On computers and smart TVs you can watch the trek from beginning to end in HD with commentary.

ISS (International Space Station) is in the prime location to photograph and vid all of it. Jets from NASA will be in the sky doing the same. 

Check NASA.GOV for the precise viewing of this event in your local area.

Kaye

keep watching!

© copyright Kaye Manro 2017

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

THE FIRST TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
TO CROSS THE USA FROM COAST TO COAST IN 99 YEARS!

MORE TO COME 

STAY TUNED...

DARK SUN

Eclipses and Solar Flares coming soon...

MISTY NEW MORN

She waited for him there in the mists of the early morning light.

”Good Morn my Lady,” he said as he arrived, bowing to her and tipping his sword.

She smiled and curtsied to him. “I see you are carrying your shield today. Are you off to fight the Demons that once plagued your soul or some other great battle that needs to be faced?”

He looked upon her with all his Love shining through. “Today I stand guard at the precipice of our Soul. And yes, I have fought the fierce Ones and won.”

“Take care, my beloved,” she cautioned. “For just when you think the battles are all but gone another One may rear its ugly head, beckoning for you fight once again.”

He turned, looked over his shoulder and leaned on his sword. “I know, my love. I do know just that.”

Then he shifted his gaze skyward and smiled. “But today the air is clear the sun is bright and this world is full of new promise. Looking back toward her, he said, “Care for a frolic my beloved?  I bid you come ride with me into the warmth of this misty new morning.”

He stretched out his hand and took hers in his. Their fingers touched and an ethereal space closed around them wrapping them within one another’s embrace. Without so much as a thought or a care save one for the other. And as the light of their love enfolded them they become as one.

Together they sat upon the beauty of his mystical horse, who stood poised in the flowing meadow before them. They rode off into the early morning light of a new day and a new promise.

Vignette story by Kaye Manro

 

© copyright Kaye Manro 2017

(modified version from Musings and Memories 2016)