Huron Expositor, 2009-07-22, Page 4Pogo 4 July 22, 2009 • The Huron Expositor
Opinion
Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK MVO
Original moon walk is
40 years old this rnonth.
It was, perhaps, the defining moment of a genera-
tion.
In fact, it may have been the defining moment of
the last several centuries.
It was forty years ago, on July 20, 1969, that as-
tronaut Neil Armstrong, carefully pressed the first
footprint on the dusty, lunar surface and uttered the
immortal words "One small step for man, one giant
leap for mankind."
Man had landed on the moon.
It was one of those life -shaping experiences when
everyone knows exactly where they were at the pre-
cise moment of the event.
For most of us, and for millions of people a round
the world, the moment was frozen in time in front
of black and white television sets as people every-
where watched the grainy images of the first moon
landing.
It was an historic moment that reinforced the wild
and romantic notion that man . could leave the con-
fines of his own planet and explore other worlds. 44"
And it led to the crazy speculation that space trav-
el 'would take us beyond the moon and that surely,
by the turn of the century, mankind would be explor-
ing other planets, if not living on them or irregularly
inhabiting space stations.
Anything seemed possible after Armstrong set foot
on the moon and playfully bounced around to the
delight and adoration of millions around the world.
Well, the excitement of that era and that particular
day has waned and shuttle missions, it seems, go on
endlessly from Florida as astronauts from assorted
nations exchange places and missions in the space
station. It hardly stirs the soul or the imagination
like the first lunar landing.
From the historic flight of Alan Shepard, who went
on a 15 -minute orbital flight around the world, there
have been five other moon landings, the last one in
1972.
Even in 2009, the achievement of that July day in
1969, still serves as the epitome of human endeavor,
exploration and achievement. The lunar landing
changed the way we looked at our selves and sud-
denly, anything and everything seemed possible.
It was the crowning achievement of human spirit
and know-how.
As we have witnessed in those rare views from
outer space only afforded to the world's astronauts,
the earth is a beautiful planet.
We should do everything within our capacity to
maintain it.
Dave Sykes
ay.
Beyond coincidence: a strange tale
of being in the right place, right time
On Sunday, I was driving my
girlfriend Genna to Waterloo
for a wedding shower for my
brother's fiance when a strange
thing happened.
Neither Genna or I are very
familiar with the city and so we
set out with a rough outline of
directions but still had a con-
siderable amount of uneasiness regarding our
sense of navigation.
Thatis to say, before long we got lost.
We made it into .Kitchener, weaving through
erratic drivers on the highway, and pulled into
a gas station to ask for directions.
When I walked in, two familiar looking wom-
en had unfolded a map and were closely in-
specting its network of streets and highways.
When they looked up and saw me, their faces
broke from intense concentration into a pair of
huge smiles.
It was my mom and aunt, who traveled 280
kilometres from Windsor that morning to at-
tend the same wedding shower and they too
had gotten lost.
We immediately recognized the stunning co-
incidence that brought us together. Of all the
gas stations and convenience stores that sell
street maps - in the Kitchener/Waterloo region,
we both happened upon- this one at the exact
same time.
We each combined our limited knowledge
of the city and by collaborating were able to
successfully find the location 9f the wedding
shower on time.
Ron dr have
5o...this is summer
. camp is it?
We just sit here
in a tent all night
in the dark and
the cold?
Yep.
We all have stories like this
one.
Coincidences that seem as if
they're planned out for a rea-
son.
But I'm not the type of person
who is comfortable with uncer-
tainty.
In the unanswerable random-
ness vs. determinism debate, I've always fa-
voured the former.
For my entire adult life, I've believed life and
the universe are not determined by any force
or- power.
Just as religious faith is comforting for some
people, I've felt empowered by free will and
the idea that my life is not predetermined and
hinges only on my own sense of gumption.
But at the same time, what makes life so
exciting is that it constantly surprises us and
forces us to keep an open mind about the true
reality of the way the whole thing works.
Was the experience I had at the gas station
on Sunday merely a random coincidence or
was there some hidden force of attraction that
drew together a mother and her son -- maybe
some sort of esoteric psychic connection?
Ahem. Umm, I don't know.
"Synchronicity," a term coined by psycholo-
gist Carl Jung, who described it as "a mean-
ingful coincidence", can be a rare and aston-
ishing experience in life.
You can choose to shrug it off, or you can
scratch your head and wonder.
by David Lacey
Was that
a question
or an answer?
Mom says it
builds character.
I've got enough
character, let's
go home.
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