My E-mail Trip Report of September 4, 2003 to See Mars (and Holly Since She Was in the Area)
The following is an e-mail to a 'keypal' that I have just made recently named Dianne in which I share with her an e-mail that I sent to many in September, 2003. It describes the trip I made to Columbia to view Mars through a large telescope one week after its historic close encounter with earth in August, 2003. This e-mail also contains some of my abundant humor but also it contains some of my thoughts on serious topics:
***************************************************
Dianne,
Here is that 'trip report' e-mail of nearly three years ago that is a really good snapshot of that point in time of my life, whenever your time allows you to read it.
Greg
*******************************************************
Megan,
It was good to hear that you had a very enjoyable get-together with your family. It sounds like Lydia was a show stopper with your family members!
When I left Hannibal at about 5 p.m. yesterday, I looked at the sky and it was far from clear--clouds abounded and haze everywhere else! A few miles out, I considered turning around and going back home to check the Weather Channel even though the earlier forecast was for clear skies.
I continued on, however, and dropped by my folks (a couple miles from my childhood home, I stopped and took a few photos of the old cast iron bridge that our family members crossed over a thousand times when going to my grandparents home three miles away--my mother later told me they are planning to replace it soon and I'm not surprised). We had a nice visit, my mother fixing some kind of casserole (sp?) with Bisquick and she gave me a little cabinet of drawers to give Holly (which, I discovered when I got back home, I forgot to do!)
I left the farm at about 7:20 p.m. and the sky did not look promising and I got to the Physics Dept. Bldg. (which lost its large parking lot to new buildings so it was hard to find parking) at about 8:30. There were quite a few people in line to see Mars through the big scope but there were smaller scopes on the roof. Finally, Mars peeked through the clouds and, at 100X (power), it showed as a little smaller than a full moon to the unaided eye but I could see some major markings.
I left to pick up (my 18-year-old daughter) Holly at 9:30 and ran into a woman of Oriental descent leaving the building at the same time. We talked of the views we got of Mars and I then gave her a Matthew 24:29-30a prophesy card and I asked her if she was a Christian. She paused and told me that she wasn't. I then shared with her some of the same views that I have shared with you, Megan, in that a person's nationality and religion is largely determined by random chance and that it didn't make sense to me that a loving God would 'look down' on those who weren't Christian simply because they were born in a non-Christian part of the world. This woman told me that she was very glad to hear me say that as several of her Christian friends have told her that no one can go to heaven if they do not 'believe in (a Christian) God'.
After I got to Stephens College, fortunately Holly was looking for me as the parking lot was full. We went back to the Physics Bldg. and, since Mars was covered by clouds, Holly and I looked at the first quarter moon through a 200X lens and it was breathtaking!!! I immediately could see Alpine Valley which looks like someone took a small knife and made a short, shallow notch into some lunar mountains. When Mars peeked through the clouds, we got a good look at a larger disc of Mars-not a huge one as you dream of seeing but large enough that you could make out features, including one of the polar ice caps.
Holly and I then got into the long line of people waiting to see Mars through the university's large scope of 295X (I was told) and by 'long', it was a very slow moving line of about 50 people or so. Right behind us was an older couple from a nearby town of Fulton (where British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his famous 'Iron Curtain' speech just after World War II) and I asked what they did and they told me. And then the woman asked me what I did and then I looked at Holly who smiled and I told her, "If you were to ask Holly, she would tell you that I did next to nothing (and Holly laughed)." I told this woman, "I used to work as an engineer for an agency in the USDA, the Soil Conservation Service, most of my years near Poplar Bluff and then my job moved me to a desk job in Columbia and everything in my life went from very, very good to very, very bad and my mental health suffered greatly and, of course, it gets back to a woman." Which always leads the listener to laugh.
I told them about Denise and how, after one year with her, I found out from her that she expected me to join her church. I then told them about my manuscript that I wrote and gave both of them Matthew 24:29-30a prophesy cards which they found interesting.
Holly and I then got to see Mars through the big scope at about 10:40 p.m. (I made a note of the time so I could check my astronomy magazine's maps to see exactly which part of Mars we were seeing). As Holly (who was ahead of me in line) got closer to the scope, she told me that she hoped that the man helping explain to the viewers what they were seeing doesn't say anything to her because she knew that she wouldn't know anything he was talking about. I told Holly, "If he says anything to you, just tell him (in a smug voice), "I already knew that," which caused Holly to laugh.
When I first saw Mars through the scope, I was very shockingly disappointed at first because, although the image was larger than the previous ones (about three times the diameter of the full moon to the unaided eye), it was so bright that I couldn't see any surface detail. And then I noticed that as I continued to look at Mars, my eye's retina was slowly acclimating to Mars' brightness and the delicate surface markings were starting to appear in my eye and a major Martian surface feature, Syrtis Major (according to the man running the telescope), was prominent on the planet's hemisphere facing earth and it was a delicate dark grayish blue-green in color. And I kept my eye to it long enough to feel that I got my money's worth. (When I told Holly to look at Mars long enough to get her 'money's worth' she just looked back at me as this was free to the public.)
After Holly and I got back to the car, I pulled out my Sky & Telescope issues with a map of Mars and info on how to determine which Martian longitude was facing earth the moment that we were looking at Mars and, sure enough, Syrtis Major was just to the right of the central meridian at the time. We got back to Stevens College and Holly and I talked for a while about how things were going--Holly told me her college friends find her to be very funny. We said our 'Goodbyes' at about 11:10 p.m. and I stopped to get a cup of coffee and made the 1 3/4 hour drive home. One distinct memory that I will always remember on the drive home is that it was one of those rare times that the Big Dipper was just to my left and was upright and hovering just above the northern horizon, which I always think is neat to see.
I drove with the windows up (except the passenger side was open a little) to protect my left ear which was still suffering from an earache---and I greatly disliked that as I love to drive on the highway with the my window down in the cool evening temps. My ear is feeling better today.
I got home at 12:45 a.m. and watched the Cardinals-Cubs game which I had taped. I thought the Cardinals had the game wrapped up as they had a 6-0 lead and also a 7-3 lead but their bullpen blew another one and lost 8-7 and now 1/2 game behind division leading Astros.
I am shocked that I neglected to tell you in my letter yesterday something I would tell my mother and Holly---that yesterday was the 15th anniversary of Denise's heart-lung transplant operation, an event that helped get me to where I am today.
I gotta run. It is 3:57 p.m. and it's past my lunch time.
Take good care! (And I look forward to hearing about the rest of your weekend and this week so far.)
Greg
**********************************
Dianne,
When I wrote this e-mail, among the many who I sent it to was my supervisor of 5 years, Mike B., who is a really great person......except his very staunch Baptist beliefs (which I had completely forgotten about when I wrote this e-mail) were ones that he often expressed in the workplace.
Here is his reply to my e-mail and my response to Mike's e-mail is further below:
***********************************
From: Michael
To: Greg
Subject: Re: My trip to Columbia last night to see Mars (and Holly since she was in the area)
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 12:53:15 -0500
Greg,
I just read your letter about your trip to Columbia.
I believe the Bible makes it clear that there is no hope except through
Christ.
Jesus says in John 14:6 "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." and in
Acts 4:12 it says "Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Peter
was talking about Jesus.
Jesus is the only hope of eternity.
Mike
************************************
From: Greg
To: Mike
Subject: Re: My trip to Columbia last night to see Mars (and Holly since she was in the area)
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 14:27:55 -0500
Mike,
Thank you for your letter.
The scriptures that you quoted are only found in the CHRISTIAN Bible and, therefore, do not hold sway with non-Christians. The God that I believe in is not arbitrary on who is saved and not saved.
We will just have to agree to disagree.
Greg
***************************************************
Dianne,
Here is that 'trip report' e-mail of nearly three years ago that is a really good snapshot of that point in time of my life, whenever your time allows you to read it.
Greg
*******************************************************
Megan,
It was good to hear that you had a very enjoyable get-together with your family. It sounds like Lydia was a show stopper with your family members!
When I left Hannibal at about 5 p.m. yesterday, I looked at the sky and it was far from clear--clouds abounded and haze everywhere else! A few miles out, I considered turning around and going back home to check the Weather Channel even though the earlier forecast was for clear skies.
I continued on, however, and dropped by my folks (a couple miles from my childhood home, I stopped and took a few photos of the old cast iron bridge that our family members crossed over a thousand times when going to my grandparents home three miles away--my mother later told me they are planning to replace it soon and I'm not surprised). We had a nice visit, my mother fixing some kind of casserole (sp?) with Bisquick and she gave me a little cabinet of drawers to give Holly (which, I discovered when I got back home, I forgot to do!)
I left the farm at about 7:20 p.m. and the sky did not look promising and I got to the Physics Dept. Bldg. (which lost its large parking lot to new buildings so it was hard to find parking) at about 8:30. There were quite a few people in line to see Mars through the big scope but there were smaller scopes on the roof. Finally, Mars peeked through the clouds and, at 100X (power), it showed as a little smaller than a full moon to the unaided eye but I could see some major markings.
I left to pick up (my 18-year-old daughter) Holly at 9:30 and ran into a woman of Oriental descent leaving the building at the same time. We talked of the views we got of Mars and I then gave her a Matthew 24:29-30a prophesy card and I asked her if she was a Christian. She paused and told me that she wasn't. I then shared with her some of the same views that I have shared with you, Megan, in that a person's nationality and religion is largely determined by random chance and that it didn't make sense to me that a loving God would 'look down' on those who weren't Christian simply because they were born in a non-Christian part of the world. This woman told me that she was very glad to hear me say that as several of her Christian friends have told her that no one can go to heaven if they do not 'believe in (a Christian) God'.
After I got to Stephens College, fortunately Holly was looking for me as the parking lot was full. We went back to the Physics Bldg. and, since Mars was covered by clouds, Holly and I looked at the first quarter moon through a 200X lens and it was breathtaking!!! I immediately could see Alpine Valley which looks like someone took a small knife and made a short, shallow notch into some lunar mountains. When Mars peeked through the clouds, we got a good look at a larger disc of Mars-not a huge one as you dream of seeing but large enough that you could make out features, including one of the polar ice caps.
Holly and I then got into the long line of people waiting to see Mars through the university's large scope of 295X (I was told) and by 'long', it was a very slow moving line of about 50 people or so. Right behind us was an older couple from a nearby town of Fulton (where British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his famous 'Iron Curtain' speech just after World War II) and I asked what they did and they told me. And then the woman asked me what I did and then I looked at Holly who smiled and I told her, "If you were to ask Holly, she would tell you that I did next to nothing (and Holly laughed)." I told this woman, "I used to work as an engineer for an agency in the USDA, the Soil Conservation Service, most of my years near Poplar Bluff and then my job moved me to a desk job in Columbia and everything in my life went from very, very good to very, very bad and my mental health suffered greatly and, of course, it gets back to a woman." Which always leads the listener to laugh.
I told them about Denise and how, after one year with her, I found out from her that she expected me to join her church. I then told them about my manuscript that I wrote and gave both of them Matthew 24:29-30a prophesy cards which they found interesting.
Holly and I then got to see Mars through the big scope at about 10:40 p.m. (I made a note of the time so I could check my astronomy magazine's maps to see exactly which part of Mars we were seeing). As Holly (who was ahead of me in line) got closer to the scope, she told me that she hoped that the man helping explain to the viewers what they were seeing doesn't say anything to her because she knew that she wouldn't know anything he was talking about. I told Holly, "If he says anything to you, just tell him (in a smug voice), "I already knew that," which caused Holly to laugh.
When I first saw Mars through the scope, I was very shockingly disappointed at first because, although the image was larger than the previous ones (about three times the diameter of the full moon to the unaided eye), it was so bright that I couldn't see any surface detail. And then I noticed that as I continued to look at Mars, my eye's retina was slowly acclimating to Mars' brightness and the delicate surface markings were starting to appear in my eye and a major Martian surface feature, Syrtis Major (according to the man running the telescope), was prominent on the planet's hemisphere facing earth and it was a delicate dark grayish blue-green in color. And I kept my eye to it long enough to feel that I got my money's worth. (When I told Holly to look at Mars long enough to get her 'money's worth' she just looked back at me as this was free to the public.)
After Holly and I got back to the car, I pulled out my Sky & Telescope issues with a map of Mars and info on how to determine which Martian longitude was facing earth the moment that we were looking at Mars and, sure enough, Syrtis Major was just to the right of the central meridian at the time. We got back to Stevens College and Holly and I talked for a while about how things were going--Holly told me her college friends find her to be very funny. We said our 'Goodbyes' at about 11:10 p.m. and I stopped to get a cup of coffee and made the 1 3/4 hour drive home. One distinct memory that I will always remember on the drive home is that it was one of those rare times that the Big Dipper was just to my left and was upright and hovering just above the northern horizon, which I always think is neat to see.
I drove with the windows up (except the passenger side was open a little) to protect my left ear which was still suffering from an earache---and I greatly disliked that as I love to drive on the highway with the my window down in the cool evening temps. My ear is feeling better today.
I got home at 12:45 a.m. and watched the Cardinals-Cubs game which I had taped. I thought the Cardinals had the game wrapped up as they had a 6-0 lead and also a 7-3 lead but their bullpen blew another one and lost 8-7 and now 1/2 game behind division leading Astros.
I am shocked that I neglected to tell you in my letter yesterday something I would tell my mother and Holly---that yesterday was the 15th anniversary of Denise's heart-lung transplant operation, an event that helped get me to where I am today.
I gotta run. It is 3:57 p.m. and it's past my lunch time.
Take good care! (And I look forward to hearing about the rest of your weekend and this week so far.)
Greg
**********************************
Dianne,
When I wrote this e-mail, among the many who I sent it to was my supervisor of 5 years, Mike B., who is a really great person......except his very staunch Baptist beliefs (which I had completely forgotten about when I wrote this e-mail) were ones that he often expressed in the workplace.
Here is his reply to my e-mail and my response to Mike's e-mail is further below:
***********************************
From: Michael
To: Greg
Subject: Re: My trip to Columbia last night to see Mars (and Holly since she was in the area)
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 12:53:15 -0500
Greg,
I just read your letter about your trip to Columbia.
I believe the Bible makes it clear that there is no hope except through
Christ.
Jesus says in John 14:6 "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." and in
Acts 4:12 it says "Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Peter
was talking about Jesus.
Jesus is the only hope of eternity.
Mike
************************************
From: Greg
To: Mike
Subject: Re: My trip to Columbia last night to see Mars (and Holly since she was in the area)
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 14:27:55 -0500
Mike,
Thank you for your letter.
The scriptures that you quoted are only found in the CHRISTIAN Bible and, therefore, do not hold sway with non-Christians. The God that I believe in is not arbitrary on who is saved and not saved.
We will just have to agree to disagree.
Greg
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