Ten years ago, this morning, we were driving through Arizona, just out of Flagstaff on our way to a high school reunion in Albuquerque. Cruising down the highway, we came upon the signs advertising Meteor Crater. I had driven by here many times as a youth - driven by being the operative words. The old man was always in a hurry and we never stopped anywhere till it was too late at night to drive. I’m relating this story to my wife as I prepare to drive by, but she says, you’re gonna stop aren’t you? Oh yeah, huh, sez I. And we did. And let me tell you that is one impressive hole in the ground. My 5th grade daughter was with us, and she was reasonably interested and asked lots of questions about the meteorite hitting the earth. For the record, the crater was formed by a “several hundred thousand ton” 150’ across iron-nickle rock slamming into the desert some 50,000 years ago, making a hole a mile wide. Really!
Anyway, it was something I had wanted to see for a good 40 years. And I saw it. And it was good.
We got into Albuquerque late in the day and checked into our room. I turned on the TV and the local news was showing, at that very moment, Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 plowing into Jupiter. Wow! Talk about a great inter-active science lesson. My daughter and I watched, fascinated by the pictures. More than that, I was completely thrilled that we had managed to see both these things the same day.