The primary motive for creating Spittin’ Grits over a year ago was to share my story as a parent of drug addicted child and subsequently a parenting grandparent of her daughter, our granddaughter Joanna Leigh. What I’ve experienced and learned over 25 years should not go unexamined and unreported to my grave – not if someone else can benefit in some way. Living with this sometimes shocking, sometimes incredible, always heartbreaking reality -- one that plays out in some kind of parallel universe -- and at the same time trying to have something of a life on this more familiar side has been difficult. Sometimes impossible.
I knew the story would be a personal one, often a hard one to write and a scary one to tell publicly. But I committed to trying. I also knew I couldn’t write only about this subject; it’s too hard. I’d end up jumping off the Hugh Thomas Bridge into the Black Warrior River, at least figuratively. So, I decided to widen the subject matter, as you can see from the categories in the far right column. That part has been fun and I intend to keep posting those kinds of odds and ends.
So far, I’ve dealt with only bits and pieces of the hard stuff – mainly because Act IV of this five-act drama kept unfolding; the curtain had not come down on this pivotal act, which, according to traditional analysis, contains the dénouement or primary turning point. The curtain came down last Wednesday.
Act V
In real life, Act V just keeps going until we each leave this world. The next generation is left to make sense of and complete the drama. So, I won’t be dealing with that final act. Wheeewww!
Spittin’ Grits will therefore deal with the six-week run-up to last Wednesday in a series of future posts that may not be consecutive. I suppose then I’ll have to go backwards, maybe even start at the beginning and see where it goes.
Paused
For right now, let’s take breather. I want to tell you about one of my most favorite Web sites and its news about recent videos and images released by NASA. It’s eye-popping good stuff.
Spaceweather at www.spaceweather.com out-weathers all the other weather sources and sites. Yes, it’s about activity in space – especially what’s going on with our Sun, and it never fails to intrigue.
Last Wednesday, in the midst of Act IV playing out, I got a ping from my 3D Sun app on my iPhone: NASA had released some mind-blowing video and images sent from from its brand new Solar Dynamics Observatory telescope.
I wanted to see this on my computer screen, so I went to spaceweather. Wow.
This first image, taken March 30, shows an ultraviolet image of the full sun; red colors are cooler, blues hotter. Whatever "cooler" and "hotter" mean, it's beyond my comprehension.
The video below (posted on YouTube; search for SDO/AIA) shows a solar flare in action. Considering the size of the sun, this bursting circle's size is beyond my comprehension, but it's beautiful.
Enjoy!
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