Shuttle Launcher In Sight

The Indian River, N 27 38.938 W 80 48.014

Yes indeed, yesterday was nice. When we passed through the Haulover Canal, the banks were lined with people fishing. I never saw so many people fishing before. It was mostly a family affair with wives and children happily fishing also. I called out to some of them, "Any luck?" They all said no. But the point wasn't the fish, it was just a grand weekend day to be outside.

We are sitting at anchor now, at the most classy spot we've ever anchored at since the Statue of Liberty. We are on the Indian River just South of the Jay Jay railroad bridge. To the east I can see the Vertical Assembly building clearly. Less clearly, I can see the space shuttle launch pad. With my binoculars I can just barely make out the shape of the shuttle and booster rockets. The countdown has started and the launch is in three days.

I've always wanted to see a space rocket launch. It would make a great milestone in life. Even though the shuttle is only going up a few hundred miles into low orbit I can imagine that the launch will look exactly the same when someday we send a mission to the stars. That will be a great moment in history.

Actually, we may no be in exactly this spot when Thursday comes. Also, it real life, these launches seldom occur without delays. Even if we're not in this spot we will be close enough to see it go, because it will be a night launch.

Today we sat at anchor all day and I got to do something else that I never did before. We listened live to oral arguments at the Supreme Court on the radio. If I can't be there to see it in person, listening live on the radio is almost as exciting. They were hearing arguments about racial preferences in schools. When the decision on those cases come next spring, it it likely to be one of the big stories of the year. From what I heard today, it sounds like all the justices are highly skeptical about the idea of using skin color in assigning kids to schools.

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