Look up

The space station and the space shuttle both flew over Austin tonight - or I should say they were visible as they flew over tonight. I suppose they (or at least the space station) fly over Austin all the time. You just can't see them.

But tonight, you could see them. Or more specifically, *I* could see them! And I DID see them!!! Usually, I hear that one or the other is going to pass by, but then I forget by the time it happens. But tonight I set an alarm for each one. See, I can figure out ways to compensate for my inadequacies - like no memory.

That's the first time I've ever seen either of them, and I got to see both, within about 10 minutes of each other. They each appeared in the NW part of the sky, a bright dot in the sky, moving quickly and smoothly across the sky. The station was visible for longer, the consistent little light gliding across the dark sky, disappearing near the moon. The shuttle was on a slightly different trajectory. It started out about the same brightness as the station, but then it got very, very bright, went directly overhead (I had to crane my neck all the way back), then got dimmer until just disappearing into the dark.

As it passed over, I imagined the astronauts inside and said a little prayer for their safety. I also imagined for a moment that maybe they were looking down at the Earth, at the United States, at Texas as their own families looked up and watched them pass by - that as I stood watching, the astronauts and their families connected across the miles and the night - love and worry and pride and prayer slipping through the ether faster than even the shuttle can fly.

Makes a cold night feel warm.