Watch out for giraffes falling from sky...
It’s late on Sunday night...just never know when inspiration might strike...
A cataclysmic event involving an asteroid didn’t happen over the weekend...at least not that I am aware of. Didn’t see anything about such an occurrence on social media.
Bob and I spent some time on the front stoop last Sunday afternoon, just enjoying the warm sunshine. Bob, as you may recall, is one of our rescue cats. He’s the one without any teeth, thanks to an unexpected feline health issue and a road trip to Central Illinois a couple of years ago.
Bob likes to go outside. He likes it so much that occasionally, Bob will catch us not paying attention, zoom out the door, fly across the front yard, zip next door and head to a nearby embankment, where he finds a completely inaccessible spot and laughs at us as we attempt to retrieve him.
Most of the time, though, he’s pretty good about letting us take him out on the front porch. We’ll spend some time on the porch swing, or maybe on the aforementioned stoop, which is a nice place for a cat, and his people, to enjoy the sunshine.
Like I said, we spent time last Sunday afternoon out on the stoop, enjoying the bright sunshine. The breeze was still a little bit cool, but certainly nothing like we had last Friday and Saturday. The cold and the snow were not nice. Not nice indeed.
Thanks to Old Man Winter’s mid-March reprise, The Other Half had to move all of her young plants back inside. Some went upstairs, under the grow lights. Some went on the dining room floor. By Sunday, temperatures were getting warmer and the plants went back out.
Anyway, while sitting out on the front stoop last Sunday afternoon, I did not notice an asteroid or space station falling from the sky, perhaps signalling the end of the world as we know. (Cue the REM song in your mind.)
(Just an aside: one day last week, while sitting on the porch swing, by myself, I heard a “smack” sound out on the street in front of the house. Looked in the direction of the sound...and saw a squirrel running down the street. I can’t be sure, but I think the squirrel fell from a utility wire. If that indeed was the case, the little critter seemed to be OK.)
It seems like fairly often these days, we see or hear something about an asteroid the size of the Titanic heading towards Earth. Most of the time, the asteroid hits an iceberg and sinks, but not before Jack and Rose get together.
While doing some research for this column, I ran across an article online which appeared on The Jerusalem Post’s website. That’s one of the wonderful things about the internet. Without even getting out of my chair, I could travel to Israel. Sort of.
The article, written by Aaron Reich, reported that an asteroid actually struck the Earth on March 11. The out-of-this-world visitor landed near Iceland, which is pretty far away from our front stoop. That being said, Bob could probably make it to Iceland when he gets loose.
The article explained that the asteroid was three meters wide... “around just half the size of an average male giraffe, which grows to be around five-six meters in height.” That got me to thinking... wouldn’t an average male giraffe falling from the sky be much more exciting to see than an asteroid?
I share all of this fascinating information as kind of a prelude to an article which appeared in the Friday, February 25, issue of USA TODAY, with a headline that caught my attention:
“Study: Asteroid that killed dinosaurs hit in spring”
Perhaps you know the story: Folks who study such things have determined that an asteroid struck the third planet from the sun...and wiped out the dinosaurs.
The article written by Jordan Mendoza which appeared in USA TODAY: explained that: “Dinosaurs went extinct roughly 66 million years ago, marking the end of the Cretaceous Period, after an asteroid about 7 miles wide struck what is now the Yucatan peninsula off Mexico.” An asteroid 7 miles wide would be a whole lot of male giraffes flying through sky. That would be something to see.
Apparently, up until now, folks had not been able to determine what time of year the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs hit the Earth. I guess it’s not like a T-rex kept a day planner with an entry that read: “Sunday, March 13. Daylight Saving Time begins. 7 mile wide asteroid hits Earth. EXTINCTION. (underlined three times). Reschedule dental appointment.”
Well, research now seems to have determined that the asteroid hit the Earth during the spring. Probably right before all of the dinosaurs went on spring break, which would have been pointless, since all of the beaches would have been wiped out, too.
Researchers now are hoping to pinpoint the exact date the asteroid hit. In the meantime, Bob and I will continue to spend time on the front stoop. And I’m going to assume that the grass will need to be mowed at some point... hmmmm... maybe an asteroid would be a good thing...