A View From the Edge

When Henry Ford was asked about the Model T, one of the first things he spoke of was how far it drove on a tank of gas: up to 500 miles at 31 miles per gallon! It was small, light, go-anywhere, carried 1000 pounds and, most of all, was affordable. How far we’ve come.

There is perhaps nothing you need to create so fundamental as a home, a house, a place to live. There is something primitive and basic about construction, from laid stone to wooden beams to roofing to sheetrock and paint — anyone who lives anywhere either knows how their home was built or, indeed, can build and maintain the structure.

I am writing this on International Holocaust Day. Let’s step back in time to this month in 1939.

Ever since the dawn of time, when humans go exploring and then expanding into new lands, taking the new frontier in stages has always provided security and helped planning. It is frightening to step into the unknown. But if you take it in stages, establishing safe places before that last push into the wilderness, you are more likely to succeed.

There’s an old carpenter’s saying, “measure twice before you cut.” Facts and beliefs need more verification than that. A perfect case in point is the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Explorers take many shapes and forms.

America is the land of the free and this generally encourages everyone to think this gives them license to act freely, of their own volition.

The images are pretty amazing (oh, yes, and beautiful). The Hubble images astound us still, even after 32 years! Now we have The James Webb Space Telescope sending back astounding images, broadening our concept of the vastness, yet exciting contents, of space.