Y'know, I think I felt a lot safer when my world was the block upon which I lived, a few local stores and the route to schools. A couple of cousins houses weren't far away, and I could go downtown and come back after dark and feel safe. I was 9, 10, 11.

I never did know what the weather was going to be, and if there was snow it was always a surprise. The Sun always came up in the East, and went down in the west, and it was ALWAYS the same Sun. No difference, ever.

My biggest worry was getting home in time for dinner. A catastrophe was a flat tire on my bike.

Now, the world is much, much bigger, going out some 22,300 miles, at least, which are filled with potential problems. Ya got yer solar flares, asteroids, global warming, nuclear weapons, drive by shootings, more worries about asteroids, and God I hope they get the next Solar Observatory up there before the last one dies because I wouldn't want my TV interrupted without forewarning or the ATM screwed up or maybe someones cell phone not working.

Not sure these things are an unmitigated good thing.

And I still have to worry about flat tires on my bicycle. Also. In addition to.

Oh, well. SOHO has done one helluva job for a long time. In a rotten neighborhood. Don't envy it, especially the silliness it would see if it ever looked toward "home".