As the sun rose over the yardarm Friday morning, my wife asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. After pancakes, I said, “I’d like to attempt a positive, uplifting letter!” What with waiting for a vaccine shot, wrestling with the residue of Jan. 6 – and now Harry and Megan not returning as laborers for the Royal Family – wherever might a silver lining be found?

I’m old enough to have sat in front of a tiny black-and-white TV to watch Alan Shepard blast off and plop into the ocean 15 minutes later – to the astonishment of the entire nation. Perhaps the Russians were ahead of us. But no matter – we were off and running! Soon John Glenn orbited Earth, and after that, Tom Hanks landed on the moon … I think it was Tom …

Recently, those erudite eggheads at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory successfully put Perseverance on Mars. Here on Earth, we can’t get deadheads to put on a mask to persevere the pandemic – but I digress.

I’m sure I’m not alone as I anxiously and euphorically follow this saga. The sheer audacity of imagining, designing, building and dispatching a car-size contraption, and expecting it to land, intact, on a planet far, far away – boggles whatever’s left of my mind. It may be the dead of winter, but intelligence and adventure is alive an’ well here and there. And now – on Mars!

Take it from an old-timer like moi – this is way cool. Groovy,

Buddy Doyle
Gardiner

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