The NASA spacecraft Cassini shot this photo while orbiting Saturn, the sixth planet in our solar system, nine times farther from the Sun than the Earth is. Nothing special, eh? Well, I scanned a copy of this photo, hopped in the time machine* behind my garage, and paid a visit to Galileo Galilei at his villa at Arcetri, Italy, where he was under house arrest by the Vatican for suggesting that the Earth was not a stationary body.
Though his eyesight was failing, Galileo seemed happy to see me (I informed him ahead of time, not to worry, I was an atheist). But he was almost in tears after seeing this image of a planet and from a perspective that he could hardly imagine in 1636. (Galileo was born 450 years ago this year, on February 15.)
I had also brought along a Starbucks for him, to which he graciously said, “Figata!” even though they hadn’t left enough room at the top for the milk. We had a nice visit. I told him that, although he hadn’t gotten everything right, neither did Einstein or Hawking, but they learned from him and referred to him in their scientific papers. “Figata! Figata!” Galileo said as he slurped his Grande relatively quickly.
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Amazing Facts Department: according to North Carolina law, if a snow day is declared after students have boarded their school buses but have not yet arrived at school, that day is considered an “instructional day” and does not need to be made up later in the year.
Apparently this state has decided that a young person on a bus on a snowy mountain road has received some lifetime learning, and so no further education is needed that day. These are the students who go on to become our school administrators and state legislators.
In other news, Blue Ridge Cowboy Church has cancelled its services this Tuesday evening. Although God, in His infinite power and wisdom, could guarantee your safe passage to and from church this snowy evening, He would not want unbelievers to attempt to follow your tire tracks only to slide off the road, so for their sake He asks that you worship His Divine Prudence from the warmth of your homes tonight.