Went to meet the man who fell to earth this afternoon. Starstruck. Yes, I was. Even the Taurid meteor showers welcomed Rocket Man, Col. Chris Hadfield to California! The sky gave him a high five and a standing ovation. The meteor didn't streak, it hung there in the sky like a lantern. Was it a meteor or space debris, or a spent space capsule welcoming Chris? Does it matter?
It's not about the destination. Arriving. "it's always about the journey, and the places in between" said Col. Chris Hadfield. Happy Carl Sagan Day!
When I was teaching a class on Sonoma County history for Elderhostel (1980s) I met a retired NASA scientist who worked on the Apollo project. Because I brought bucketsfull of my favorite rocks to class to demonstrate Sonoma County's diverse geology, he brought me a piece of the moon to hold. I held a piece of the moon in my hand. Basalt. And in Guatemala, Donna Champion's cousin Raúl let me hold a Mayan smoking mirror—a meteorite. Utterly changed, I was.
Starstruck I am! And Cmdr_Hadfield was phenomenal—especially with the kids. He even sang Space Oddity, and Rocket Man for us. There were 300+ people packed into the bookstore, it was a zoo! When it was my turn to meet him, I gave Col. Chris Hadfield Neil’s CD, and he signed my package of Frozen astronaut ice cream.
A bit of synchronicity, as I typed this, on the TV Elton John is singing Rocket Man. Someone asks me what astronaut ice cream tastes like. I grouse, It's not about the taste of astronaut ice cream, it's about the signature! Chris was the first Canadian astronaut and space oddity to sing David Bowie from outer space!
PS I was given the packet freeze-dried ice cream by an unnamed NASA astronaut I had spent the afternoon chatting with at the MacWorld Expo at Moscone Center. So it seemed fitting to have Chris sign it. (Why is it that every single photo that someone takes of me with famous people is ALWAYS out of focus? See YouTube video here.
Canada's Hadfield Ready to Fly
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