I attended what was by modern, national standards a small, rural high school near a small city in the US Deep South. Small meant intimate. Personal. We did not think of our school, our community, our world, as small. We did not realize we would live to be so much older than our teachers were …
Author: Gary Parkerson
The Pedaling Astronomer
interesting times – an update
At my last high-school reunion, one of my dearest classmates hugged me and, without hint of irony, whispered, “You’ve had an interesting life, Gary.” Ah, the power of hugs! But did you notice her use of past tense? Such a small thing, but yeah, I noticed, because our stories are hardly over. Life was then, …
eclipse glasses vs knives
He had a knife. True, he was laughably unsteady and incoherent in his demands — almost as wobbly as I was in that moment. But he had a knife. I shared the story with a local friend the next day, and she explained that such encounters were known, at least among Los Angelenos, as friendly …
timeline
May 2016 : - ) August 2017 : - \ February 2018 ((( : - Summer/Fall/Winter 2018 : - / 2019 - \ 2020 ; - / 2021 ; - \ Spring 2022 ; - / Summer/Fall/Winter 2022 ; - ) Spring 2023 : - )
like normal people
So declared the marquee of a Houston patio bar. I heard lots of lawyer jokes when I worked as an attorney. Most weren’t great, but I was delighted that others enjoyed sharing them with me. My favorite? “How many lawyer jokes are there, anyway? Only three. The rest are true stories.” Despite my years of …
schoolmates
He gave her a ride to and from high school each day in his convertible Beetle. When weather permitted, they'd put the top down and enjoy detours to delay their inevitable arrival as long as possible. They didn't know then how precious — how rare — was their friendship. After graduation, he joined the army …
as if it’s your last
It was a perfect day, encompassing a lifetime, full and complete, in but a single cycle of our sun. We talked throughout it, between her short naps. She dozed as little as she dared, lest she miss some precious moment. That afternoon, she asked again for my stepdad, and when he entered her room, she …
silly scientist
Long ago, a friend asked that I arrange “a romantic night under the stars” for her Las Vegas-based supervisor and his betrothed. When I reported the plans I was making for a dark desert site, including a large telescope operated by an experienced astronomer, my friend asked, “What about a bonfire and champagne?” I explained …
who are we?
After I finally finished school for the first time, most new encounters eventually got around to: “What do you do?” Come to think of it, when I went back to school 20 years ago, I was old enough that people still asked that, so I guess it has more to do with being “working age” …
out and away
I was just 1500 miles into the initial 48-state portion of this continuing journey, when I stopped for a meal at a patio bistro on Missouri’s Katy Trial. The Big’s distinctive profile gets noticed, even where other bicycles abound, and a young lady at the next table asked about the bike. I explained the mobile-observatory …
The Pedaling Astronomer Project 