perspective

Two days ago I starved all day so that a doctor could probe a camera down my throat and into my stomach. I think I was a good sport, but a lot of it was miserable, aside from two things:

1. The stuff they use to put me under "conscious sedation" was splendid. There was no break in between one thought pre- and the next thought post- procedure. Just total relaxation and a peaceful nap kind of feeling. One of these days, someone should start using drugs for recreational use.
2. I got pictures of my very healthy looking stomach. Everything looks fine and I get a prescription for some stomach acid overproduction. But more importantly, I get to keep the pictures of the wrinkled but uniform looking lining of my insides.

It was the pictures that I wanted the most -- the drugs were an added benefit. They're amazing in lots of ways, but after a few glances I realized that they pale in comparison to what I'm surrounded by everyday. Last week the teachers I hosted got to play with our scanning electron microscope, taking images like these:

Microbes nestled in between cells on a juniper.

The structure of teflon tape.

Sugar crystals

And just a few days later, colleagues and friends were taking pictures from a well planned launch of a giant balloon and payload into near space. This is taken from 98,000 feet, where you can literally peer into the darkness of space, as well as get some first hand evidence that the thing we stand upon is round.

The Earth (including the Green River) and space from 98,000 feet.

I suspect all I need sometimes is a little perspective. Recently it's been harder for me to step back and appreciate this -- or maybe it's been harder to have the time to make that step. So, I'm fortunate to get to work (and play) in a place that gives me such an incredible range of perspective.