A Weekend at the Farm

Mariella and I had the opportunity to visit the family farm near Phillip Island. The farm is home to many cattle that roam freely on the huge plot of land. I even saw a cow with no legs (ground beef!). It was nice to retreat into the quite of rural rolling hills. A highlight was the crystal clear night sky, jammed packed with stars and solar systems. Most of us do not get to see the skys like this because of light pollution in and near cities. It was humbling to sit under such a sky.

I recently read that President Theodore Roosevelt had a routine habit of stepping outside at dark to look at the night sky. He would find the faint spot of light near the lower left-hand corner of Pegasus and would recite: "That is the Spiral Galaxy of Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It is seven hundred and fifty thousand light years away. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our own sun." Then he would say that he now felt small enough. What a good way to induce humility. Earth is certainly a speck in this vast universe.

Under the star filled sky we had fun roasting kebabs for dinner and staying warm by the outdoor fire pit. We also took a day trip to the island where we saw penguins and kangaroos. We capped off the day enjoying an ice cream beachside.