February 2 Crescent Moon and Venus light up the night sky
You’ve been trained for these moments, flat on your back, waving through the window and to the camera fixed above you. Adrenaline in check, concentrating on doing what you’ve done hundreds of rimes before. No room for anything beyond the immediate, because beyond is coming soon enough. The craft as solid as a fifteen-story building, ready to shoot upwards at speeds you understand but as an abstract, from another reality, not one that can be seen or felt. Somewhere not far away every part of your body is being monitored, the pressure of your blood, the levels of oxygen and state of your major organs. Learning all they can whilst they can, before it’s too late. You can’t be certain if the thoughts in your head are private. It wouldn’t matter, every thought has been practiced before. It isn’t your first time but will be the last. The interviews and counselling are over. You’ve embraced this, gone past mourning and into a kind of transcendental state. No need of disclaimers or pap...