The Funny Thing About Time Travel…

The Funny Thing About Time Travel…

“…we do it every day.  Our memory takes us into the past.  Our imagination takes us into the future.”  

-time travel b-movie (paraphrased)

The image below is a mashup of two slightly overlapping images that I captured from my deck at almost the same time but with slightly different exposures.  It was too wide of an angle to capture as a single image, and panorama mode didn’t capture enough light to show the details.

The amazing aspect is what it shows – a view of 4 planets split in the middle by the moon on a single night. I confirmed the planets using an augmented reality astronomy app on my phone.  As it is often said, the picture doesn’t do it justice.

I was transfixed on this sight and time seemed to stop.  It was an intense experience.  Let me state – I am generally not an emotion person, but this touched me deeply.  Being the left-brain person that I am, I asked myself…why?

  • Did it remind me of my childhood when I was fascinated by the universe and would stare at the stars for hours?
  • Did it remind me of the countless nights that we read the book ‘Goodnight Moon’ to our son?
  • Was it seeing 4 planets together in a single moment and field-of-view when most planets are typically seen alone or maybe with one other planet?
  • Was it the harmonious balance in nature I witnessed from the vantage point of my deck?
  • Was it the optimistic promise I saw in the sky that life will find a balance and somehow be ok?

I believe it was all these.  I was time traveling in the moment.  And that’s what made it so amazing.

Life doesn’t often present opportunities to experience the past, present and future in a single moment.  When it does, stop, take it in, and remember how truly blessed life is.  And that moment will become a permanent part of your timeline, something you can visit anytime using the time travel of memory.

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