Figured out from my log files that a lot of people were finding my site using the search phrase “birthdaycard” with no space. They were getting the image of the birthday card my father sent to me one year, with his signature artwork and sense of humor. Not a bad way to enter the site, I think. So I just added a link to the main site on the page, something those other gallery pages don’t have. I hope some of those search engine people are taking a look at the other Bob Blust images I posted. He was an extraordinary man.
Month: February 2003 (Page 6 of 6)
Disaster
My father and I used to have heated debates about the space program. He felt strongly that the money used to fund NASA should be used for social programs. “We have enough problems here at home,” he would say. I tried to argue that stopping space exploration would not increase funding to help disadvantaged people – it would just go to other pork barrel projects. Plus, that budget was miniscule compared to, say, the defense industry.
But he and I were both stubborn, so neither influenced the other very much. My father continued to believe, as I used to joke with him, that “all the shuttles and rockets and space stations should be melted down to make soup cans for the poor.”
My focus then, as now, is that we must continue to reach for the stars, both literally and figuratively. As a society, as a people, if we stop exploring, stop reaching out for things beyond our grasp, we die. I believe that’s a crucial part of what makes us human.
If we let what happened today slow the pace of progress, we’re not only going in the wrong direction – we’re doing a disservice to the memory of the people on the shuttle, who dedicated themselves to looking ahead, and up.