WINFIELD WORD WEAVING

One small step for a Winfield, one giant leap for mankind…is what I said as I stepped out of my upstairs window onto the roof and climbed up to the top of my house. I was a bit concerned I might disturb the neighbors; you know, the ones that live under the eaves and have a nasty temper if you rattle their hive. I was quiet and quick, like a Northwestern Santa Claus, in shorts and a t-shirt, stealthily scurrying his way back to his sleigh, then realizing he was four months too early to be trespassing on people’s rooftops. Oops. My point, the yellow jackets remained at bay and kept me company with their soft, gentle snoring.

That aside, I am feeling free and full of anticipation, waiting to be filled with pride when I witness, this very evening, a modern marvel of science and ingenuity streaking across the skies overhead. When will it arrive? I am 20 minutes early. Is my clock running correctly, because I see a light slowly moving from the 16 degrees west. Could that be it?

It’s still only 9:18 pm. My clock must be wrong ’cause that is definitely it.

It is really moving, oh wait–it is blinking. Darn, that’s not it. My clock is right after all. Three more bright lights approaching…well it can’t be that one, it is too southwest. I think it might be…nope…ah shoot, the last one is turning. Okay, four false alarms, and it is still only 9:25pm. Yep, this cellphone clock takes a licking and keeps on ticking. No, really, today, I handed my phone to my granddaughter Ella ’cause she loves cell phones…She tried to eat it. Then she scrunched up her nose, tipped back her head, and gave me an ornery little smile. How could anyone care about the condition of their cell phone after that heart-melting look?

Well at least it is a beautiful night. Completely clear skies, except for that purple haze along the horizon. Queue, Jimi Hendrix, guitar solo–yeah that’s right cars, I’m doing a Jimi Hendrix solo on my roof at 9:29 at night! Whoa, don’t be falling off–Theresa would never let me live that one down. Hey, there’s a planet for sure; it must be Mars or Venus. I bet it is Venus. Sure is bright. A couple more bright lights a coming, but I’m getting good now, I can tell a fake when I see one. Yep, I was right.

Maybe I missed it? It’s 9:32pm, and nothing but planes, smog, and….wait a minute…a very dim light out of the West looks about 16 degrees to my trained, compass-like eye, yeah, right. Man it is moving, and it is getting a little brighter, it looks different than the other planes, it is smaller and constant. Yep, that is definitely it. It is headed SSE, how cool is this? Purple haze flowin’ in my brain! This one’s for you, ISS… Sorry, I’ll keep it down, go back to sleep nice little bees.

Wouldn’t it be unbelievable if, by chance and universal bad luck, I were to witness this amazing piece of human ingenuity get hit by a meteor and explode right before my eyes? Who would I call? Oh, David, you have been watching too many movies. It could happen, and I’d be on the national news. Don’t be jinxin’ this thing.

Man, it is really moving, I know it is moving about 18,000 mph, and I have been watching this thing for, I don’t know, 4 minutes now–let’s see 18k divided by 60 minutes times 4 minutes–Wow, this thing has traveled a half a million miles while I was watching it…Wait, that’s not right. Well it is at least over California by now…wait a minute, something is happening, it’s getting dimmer, 10, 9, 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 gone. Bye bye, ISS. Watch out for meteors!

You know I should sit up here more often; it is amazing what you might see.

Now to get down without waking up those pesky bees…

by David Winfield