Thanksgiving on an Exponential Order

As part of my blog post series Lunar Impact, Get Ready for it!, my last post Isolation and Discovery focused on temporal perspective, but ended alluding to a common philosophy shared between many of the Apollo astronauts and I.  The shared philosophy and thought was put best by Apollo 15 astronaut Col. David Scott of the USAF:

“The Earth is an oasis.”

Or as stated by Apollo 12 astronaut Capt. Alan Bean of the USN:

“We are living in the Garden of Eden”

The dramatic views of earth as seen by these astronauts from the face of the moon and while flying in space was with out a doubt awe inspiring. Even though I’ve never ventured into space I’ve felt this way for a long time and its one of the many reasons I’m so passionate about nature, landscape and environmental photography. To this day I am still amazed people errantly view our world as being so large it is beyond our ability to negatively impact or view our world (land, sea, animals, etc.) as being here to primarily serve the needs of man.

One look at Earth hanging in space, as these astronauts had the privilege of witnessing, it all quickly becomes clear. I only wish more people understood this. When you think about it, it makes you thankful for what we have. Fitting for Thanksgiving day… what we have to be thankful for is far greater than the founding of a country, but the creation of a world filled with profound beauty at every turn.

With that thought I wish you all, not just those in the United States, a Happy Thanksgiving.

Keep our common bond in mind as tomorrow I’ll talk to another facet of it. Stay tuned…

[tags]Happy Thanksgiving, Apollo, astronaut, Alan Bean, David Scott, moon, lunar, landing[/tags]