Small world

Friends of mine who have gone to Disney World and Disney Land say they hear the song "It's a Small World" no less than a dozen times during their visit. The lyrics are meant to bring us all closer, like one big happy family, but the song gets a bit annoying after the 8th or 9th time ... OK maybe after the 3rd time.

These days, when I think of a "small world" I look at the vast communication networks -- through phones, computers, satellites -- that make it seem like a friend or colleague in China is in the same room. All these technological advances are making this seem like a really small world.

Today, I got a chance to see just how small we are.

This afternoon we visited the state of the art planetarium at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, just up the road. It was a first visit for Carter and me -- and we were quite impressed.

The director spent the first several minutes pointing out stars, planets and constellations we likely would see on a night like tonight (close to the official end of summer). I think he could have spent the whole time teaching us on that and it would have been enough to retain. We saw the Milky Way and realize Earth is such a teeny tiny part of it. Literally a really small world.

The second part of the presentation was on the NASA space program -- its successes as well as its failures. (I still get choked up when I see the Challenger explosion from 1986.) What was interesting about this part is NASA's plans for the future. Did you know that by the time Carter graduates from high school in 2016 there may be an "outpost" on the moon? A place where astronauts and scientists can work, study and research? Incredible.

If you ever get a chance to check out a planetarium, I'd encourage you to do so. It's pretty interesting no matter what your age. And it gives you a new perspective on where we are and what's out there.

It's supposed to be a clear night tonight so I might just have to do a little star gazing in the hot tub -- hey, that's the best of both small worlds, don't ya think?