A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Today was one of those fantastic days that make me wonder why the heck anyone would want to leave Earth: sunny, 70 degrees, light breeze, unbelievably blue sky, trees and grass so green they were practically shouting. So you've gotta ask yourself a simple question: what in HECK would make you want to give up all this to go live in a tin can on some godforsaken rock in the middle of nowhere? We might have to leave someday--asteroids, volcanoes, and ice ages being what they are--but if things are going well, why screw around with it?

There is an element of escapism in the whole space exploration/settlement thing, of course. A lot of people watch SF for the vicarious thrill of seeing people live on other worlds; but the odds are pretty good that they wouldn't want to actually live there. That explains the audience gap between space advocacy conferences and SF conventions. The space advocates really want to go; the SF fans are content to let their minds wander. And then there are people like me, who are in both camps.

I don't have any other deep thoughts this evening. My mind must be wandering. Ciao.