July 4th

NASA has blasted a comet as part of our 4th of July celebration! Done as a scientific probe, timing the event to occur in the early hours of July 4th, is phenomenal. (As all space achievements are phenomenal.) Since ‘Sputnik’ first circled the earth I’ve been fascinated with all space endeavors.

Sending persons into orbit around the earth in a rocket controlled by a rinky-dink computer compared to the more complex computers we use today seems foolhardy. When a space ship landed on the moon so men could walk in moon dust then return to earth to tell about it, I knew we had reached the age of ‘Buck Rogers’.

When my sister, Adeline, and I were 8 and 9 years old, we played a game of imagination to compete with the newspaper comic strip, Buck Rogers. We stretched our imagination to the limit in thinking of outrageous inventions we knew were impossible. We laughed hysterically as we took turns naming things like a machine to wash dirty dishes, a machine to cook food in a few minutes, a sewing machine that could embroider, and even a machine like a radio that would show pictures.

Today, I can cook meals in a microwave, and watch news events and celebrations on my Television. I can also wish everyone a HAPPY 4th of July, 2005 on my computer!