GREETINGS FROM EARTH: Perhaps you saw the news stories during the week about the NASA Mars Mission.
Greetings, also, from our Simulated Martian Cat, Hastings Streetboy (found as a blind kitten in the middle of a Duncanville street about 2 1/2
years ago. We asked him to wear his blue contacts and appear to be completely serene to enhance the mood of this report in our weekly Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.
That’s a recent photo of Mars from THIS LINK though it does look a lot like those Sandhills at Monahans in West Texas in the 2nd photo. Well, except for the footprints in Monahans. [LARRY NOTE: I’m assuming those are “footprints.” Cue the spooky Martian music. Here’s the MONAHANS SANDHILLS STATE PARK link. Back to the Mars Mission.]
The headline in the July 8 Tech-Times captured the situation perfectly. “NASA Mars Mission Crew Captures Yearlong Journey That Never Left Earth.” Here's THE LINK.
The four volunteers, NASA says, “entered the 17,000 square foot, 3D-printed habitat on June 25, 2023.” As space-travelers are known to say, everything went “AOK.”
[LARRY MARTIAN ASIDE: As I read the opening paragraph of the Tech-Times story, I had a question. Here’s the opening: “At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, an innovative experiment in human endurance and scientific discovery has wrapped up.” I saw “Houston” and immediately wondered if Mars had lost power during the Beryl “visit.” Probably not. Maybe.]
There were four humans in that fake Martian environment — I’ve lived with humans and I’ve lived with animals. [LARRY ASIDE: But I’ve not lived with Martians that I know of though I have had my suspicions.]Let me explain what’s happening in that lone dog photograph. That is my funspouse Martha’s Personal Dog Wednesday Wagstaff Arden, call name Wendy. At about 5 a.m. Friday, she jumped off our bed, trotted down the hall and into the living room and jumped onto the couch. I followed her and chose the recliner. Porche followed her and chose the other end of the couch. Stevie Ray Treeboy was already on his special place, the right arm of the couch.
As I tried focusing in a room lit only by the TV, Wendy eased off the couch, starred at the community dog bed on the floor and, suddenly, shoved her nose under it.
And, utilizing her "Sense of Predawn Frolic," she pushed the bed up into the air, then, as I grabbed for my camera, she dropped to the floor, the bed landed on her face and ears and she began to stretch like as dog beneath the bed. She was quite happy adjusting the bed.
For about 8 minutes.. Then she jumped back onto the couch with Porche and Stevie Ray Treeboy. Suddenly, they all were sleeping. How do I know this? Because the only human in the room was, once again, wide awake before the early morning news was on TV, before the overnight radio shows were off and before his brain had recovered from the dreams of being stuck on Mars and learning that, throughout the universe, Mars is known as “The Planet Without Naps.”
There is no sleeping-late in our house. Well, except for my slumberspouse Martha and the dogs and cats.
I’d use the awake time to write a Lesser American Novel but with only about 5 hours of sleep, you can’t see from one end of the alphabet to the other. [LARRY NOTE: That's Stevie Ray's mugshot -- had it made for his agency when he was up for the lead in a cable series named 'Call Me Handsome.' It's a detective show in which the lead character is a Beauty Shop cat who works cases based on things he's overhead between the clients.]
They are all cute when they’re sleeping. All the dogs, the cats and, of course, The Slumberspouse.
[DEAR READERS: Please send photos of your somnolent dogs and/or cats or any other snoozing beasties to [email protected] and we’ll proudly feature them in our weekend edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. We’re always proud to show off other folks’ critters! I’m going to ask NASA to include a couple of dogs and cats in the next interplanetary experiment. FYI:
One of NASA’s online sites HERE notes the gravity difference between Earth and Mars. How different? What weighs 100 pounds on Earth weighs just 38 on Mars. (I’m saving up to buy a ticket — will be packing my own scales for the trip — perhaps on Mars you can just call me “Roundboy Slim.”] That's Porche demonstrating how to properly use the big bed in the living room -- she's a veteran sleeper.
[FOLLOWUP NOTE FOR HOUSTON, THE SITE OF MARS: My experience with Houston is almost as light as my experience with Mars. But I do have experience with animal rescuers and advocates in what’s now known as “Space City” but we traditionalists refer to as “The Bayou City.” Those folks do good work, tough work, to help animals. Let us know about Houston organizations that are in need or have tougher-than-usual missions after that darned hurricane. At mid-week we wrote about our pal Alexandra Kelsey of Houston and her tip on the post-Beryl challenges faced by Melissa Pharr and Boarding4/rescues & Animal Welfare. Scroll down to get the contact info. Bless the animals and the people they inspire.]
