The mirror settled into place gently and the crane was silent for a moment while we torque the restraining plates into place.  I removed the pin from the lifting plate and it moved up and out of sight gently revealing the gold coated JWST Primary Mirror Segment we were loading into the environment shipping container. 
It was the last one.

JWST is a scientific inspiration.  It is the most incredible and complex, optical instrument we can feasibly put into space with the technology we have today.   It will capture the most detailed …

Flames engulfed my sister’s house as my mom stood in the street and watched.  A propane tank exploded in their motor home, and a fire truck raced up the street.  Ten other housed burned, and in a few minutes a happy neighborhood became an explosion-ridden firestorm soon-to-be-wasteland… 
The supports for the temple fell to the right, toppling each other one after another like a row of dominoes.  As each fell a heatwave and mini fireball was released.  We watched, some full of tears, some full of smiles, as dreams, fears, hopes, …

Standing in the middle of the silent highway I watched the moon, slowly appear over the horizon only to vanish again into the cloudy sky.  Big, full, vivacious, and yet so easily hidden behind the mists of the evening.  Birds sang.  Something rustled in the grasses.  Far away emergency lights flashed silently.  Someone had died there an hour before.  Someone else had died over that hill 2 days before.  And another over that hill, and another beyond that mountain, and another in that lake, and another in that car.  So much death …

 “Boulder is the #1 flash flood risk community in Colorado.” This was written on my water bill this month (and is every spring).  Think about it.
The Big Thompson flood killed over 150 people and was caused by nothing more than rain.  The same thing can (will) happen again in many other Front Range canyons.  Will you have enough time to get out of the floodpath?
Boulder County has recently implemented a new emergency notification system to augment the current systems.  Citizens can be notified via email, text message, and cell phone calls …

Tonight, the day after Thanksgiving, I sit in my living room and listen to the world going to sleep thinking over the past couple wonderful days to those things I am most thankful for, and I begin to write.
 
My family. You are amazing. I tell you this whenever I can, but truly, you are the most amazing people, and the fact that I get to call you family makes my heart sing. You taught me all my first lessons, nurtured my first curiosities, and showed me how to quest for …