Of Earth and Space

When I read I read to escape. There is a place that I love to escape to and that is Middle Earth. I love the tales of the beginning, and the battles that took place to keep Middle Earth alive and ready for the first born. I love knowing the different roles the Elves and Men play in the History of Middle Earth. I laughed when I found out why the Dwarfs were created. Where does good come from and why does evil fight it? All of these questions are answered in The Silmarillion. I may have never read this book but Mandi picked it up at the Library for $1.00 because it looked like an interesting book. Little did she know that it was the first American edition. It's been sitting on our shelf for years now and it wasn't until recently that I had a fixation with Lord of the Rings. I was happy to find out that Utah Valley University has a Tolkien Literature class. I am to start this Wednesday.


My other fixation is with the realities in space travel and the what-ifs? Now I wont give much away but in 2010 the story continues where 2001 left off. We find out what happens to Dave Bowman and we return to the spaceship Discovery and the Monolith suspended between Jupiter and one of its moons. Something incredible happens in our own solar system and man is to machine as God is to man. I will say no more.
I realize there is much debate on weather or not space travel is worth the risk of human life and our hard earned money. After all the nearest star is 4.21 light years away and we do not have the technology to get there. But if we continue to say this and not try the technology will never come. You build on previous technology step by step to get to the impossible. Gliders, airplanes, rockets, spaceships, light speed...