The Farthest Reaches of Humanity

I feel I can come back from the depths of grandparenting and get a grip on some writing again. The last couple of months have been such a change in life that I didn't think - strike that - couldn't think. Period. I was on auto-operation parenting mode just to stay on top.

It's fitting, perhaps that in returning to thoughts of science and SF that this week I was creating a piece of jewelry that incorporated an element from the plaque on Pioneer 10. Remember that, Sam? Way, way back in 1972 Nasa launched the first satellite destined for deep space outside our solar system. In 1983, it sailed past Pluto and onward towards Aldebaran some 65 light years away. The last it was heard from was in 2003.

With it flies a piece of mankind's history, know-how, imagination, and hope. Some may say hopeless but meeting up with other species, or letting them know who and where we are, even if by chance, is an imaginative gesture.

Well, that's me, all wrapped up in a nutbar. One single ray among the billions sending out imaginative gestures into the void in the hope that someone out there will learn a bit about who I am and why I send this signal.

Beep. Beep.