Looking Up

As I type, I am watching a live streaming video from the geostationary satellite EchoStar 11. Located along the equator over water to the West of Central America, video from the satellite is available through Dish Network’s Earth station. We don’t have cable or satellite at home, but I am not home. My husband and I went away for the weekend, escaping to the mountains.

And now, my husband has joined me on the couch. We are giddy with the data at our fingertips. We are literally sitting side by side, watching the earth on the TV screen – tracking the progress of the earth’s movement with his laptop and various government websites.

“Hey, Dear! I’m waving! Can you see me?” I say, as I wave to the TV. “Wait. I guess you can’t see me, because I am inside. Do you think if I go outside you could see me?”

“No,” my husband replies. “But, if you go outside and yell, I bet I could hear you.” HA! Oh goodness. I love this man.

We are watching as the sun’s light begins to fully cover this particular part of the world. He’s checking data for the daytime and nighttime skies, excited about what we can see when we look up to the sky. In fact, while the sun shines over head, we just walked out to the deck to find a sliver of the moon and the planet Venus, as the two are slowly setting in the Southern sky. Currently, the moon is in the ‘new moon’ phase, so it is not visible at night. However, because my husband is a celestial geek, he found out where to locate the moon during the daylight hours, prior to it setting with the evening sun.

Though I think it is pretty neat seeing the moon during the day, I think seeing a planet during daylight hours is neater. The planets and stars are always overhead; but with the ‘lights on’, finding the celestial bodies is more difficult. And later tonight, around 8:35 PM EST, we are going to look up at the nighttime sky to watch the Hubble Space Telescope move across above us.

Throughout our years together, Rob and I have watched Muir, the International Space Station (with and without the Space Shuttle attached to it) and several space shuttles fly overhead. I realize I may be boring you with my talk of the moon, satellites, stars and planets. However, during moments like these, I am reminded of the fact my husband is my soul mate.

Back inside watching the Earth channel, I reach over and pat my husband’s hand, telling him I love him. I smile and say, “I find being with you now and exploring the skies more intimate than sex.” He laughs. Then I say, “It’s not as messy either.”

Again, he laughs, and he says, “What do you mean? There are cookies all over the place.” I look at him confused, “We aren’t eating cookies.” He looks at me and smiles, “Internet cookies. They are leaving crumbs all over our computers.” I love this man. I truly love this man. I hear him laughing louder, as he says “We’re also spreading viruses. ITDs.” I look at him, and he continues “Internet transmitted diseases.” Soul mate. He is my soul mate. I love him.