An Introduction and Explanation

 Laika was sent into orbit on November 4th, 1957 in Sputnik 2. She was, by all accounts, a likeable mutt plucked from the streets of Moscow to become the first living creature to go into orbit. It was a one-way trip designed to coincide with the founding of the Soviet Union and to follow up the USSR's trumping of the USA's space program a month before with the flight of Sputnik 1. The original plan was for Laika to circle the earth for up to 10 days before she was quietly put to sleep by poisoned food or lack of oxygen. I understand that the Russian archives have recently revealed however she lasted only about four hours before succumbing to heat or stress or both.

I was born less than a month after her flight and seems fitting that I take her as my mascot and guiding star. I wonder what Laika dreamed of as she circled the globe those hours? The Space Age . . . The Cold War . . . the Atomic Age. History is categorized into ages, epochs, great tides of time and space, but History is experienced as personal. The entire space age devolves into a single dog nervously circling the globe, perhaps dreaming of cold nights in an alley or the kindness of her handlers. Who knows? My own life hinges on certain events and experiences that are like pricks on a map, the swinging of the compass legs from point to point along some trajectory to a port as yet undetermined.

My purpose in creating this blog is to give me a place to create a history of those points and a record of my current journey. It is partially a remembrance, partially a desire to find like minded individuals who may have had similar experiences, interests or thoughts to share. I won't pretend to live an especially exciting or deep life, but I think I will bring an interesting perspective. If you are reading this (which sounds like a galactic message in a bottle itself), I hope you will return from time to time. I hope to share items of interest to us both.

By the way - cool music video about Laika at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTlGmb7Ze40

Don't you love the age we live in?