A Kid on the Farm....Looking Up

Lee Piro

December 10, 2012

Being raised on a farm in central California back in the 40's, it was soooo dark at night, that I could see the sky clearly. I would sit on the back porch and look up. It was like a musical cresendo coming down on top of me, both scary and beautiful at the same time. Wow, wow! It started me thinking, how big is the sky? How far do the stars go? Is there an end to our universe? Are there other universes? Why do I see some stars streaking across the sky? I would ask these questions and no one knew. How incredibly mysterious! Today I think back to my Grandma Fleming. She was born on a wagon train coming through Phoenix, yet before she died she was watching Sputnik on this newfangled television set. Wow! What can happen in one little lifetime!!! I so appreciate, honor, and want to thank all of the people at space centers, the Planetary Society, the scientists, JPL, for carrying on and for teaching me what I couldn't learn as a child