 Standing in front of a photo of the cosmos at Chabot Space & Science Center, I kept thinking of the old joke: "I’m so disappointed. I keep pressing the space bar on my keyboard, but I’m still on Earth." Breaking news from outer space: UFOs are real and aliens are among us. The US government (and I am not making this up) is holding secret, closed sessions to discuss the latest sightings, and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) emerged from official briefings ready to shout the truth from the rooftops. “I was briefed last week on an issue — or excuse me, two weeks ago — and it would’ve set the earth on — this country would’ve come unglued, I think, if they would’ve heard all that I’d heard,” he babbled to journalists. “Aliens are real.” Asked what our extraterrestrial visitors look like, Burchett said, "Well, it's not Independence Day, I'll tell you that."  Just as well real aliens don't look like these creatures from the 1996 film Independence Day. Speaking of government officials coming unglued (admittedly a long list), there’s Gregg Phillips, FEMA’s #2 official in charge of America’s response to floods, fires, and possibly UFO landings. He’s been on TV claiming he teleported 50 miles to a Waffle House in Rome, Georgia by paranormal means. Nobody at that Waffle House recalls ever seeing Phillips, but customer Austin Spears said something similar happened to him. “I can say I’ve been drunk and ended up in a Waffle House. Don’t know how I got there. But I was there.” As you can imagine, the media is having a field day with the story.  Late Night with Stephen Colbert spoofed the whole thing in a satirical TV commercial. I've included a link at the end of this post. The outlandish claims go on and on. Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said a U.S. Army official told him about “hybrid breeding programs, where captured aliens were breeding with humans to create some hybrid race that could engage in intergalactic communication.” I know, right? It would explain a lot of the headlines coming out of Washington, DC these days. But don’t worry, you do not need to be a high-level government official to see flying saucers. California tops the world with 36,000 reported sightings so far, hundreds of them right here in San Francisco. We’re so proud. Of course, with the abundance of drones, satellites, space research facilities, military bases, and mind-altering drugs around here, it’s possible some of these may not be legitimate UFOs — or UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena) as the government insists on calling them now. As if a new moniker makes the claims more plausible. Thousands reportedly saw a bright speck in the sky over southern California on Friday, and this time it was the real deal: a space capsule entering Earth’s atmosphere, returning the Artemis II astronauts to Earth. Rich and I were watching from a Splashdown Party thrown by Chabot Space & Science Center and their NASA pals at the observatory in Oakland.  Chabot Space & Science Center high in the hills of Oakland, CA. Photo: Chabot Space & Science Center I figured it would be Rich, myself, a few dozen kids earning extra credit for middle school science classes, and their bored, eye-rolling parents. My first clue that I was totally wrong? The parking lot was jammed, as were the walkways heading toward the entrance, with people of all ages. These days Chabot is firing up imaginations and making learning look cool. “We believe all children are born scientists,” says their website, “all children are born creative, all children are born with a love of experimentation and a joy of discovery.” That Friday afternoon, you could feel the delight of discovery and buzz of excited anticipation vibrating through the crowd. Four astronauts had flown further from earth — some 252,756 miles — than any human in history, on a journey totaling 695,000 miles, including a swing around the dark side of the moon. Now they were coming home with spectacular photos, important scientific data, and a kind of rapture they called “moon joy.” And what was the media excited about? The malfunctioning toilet. The crew kept fixing it, but from time to time it would back up again, requiring them to go with Plan B: plastic bags.  A jammed fan and frozen urine were among the problems plaguing the $30 million space toilet. Unfortunately the nearest plumber was 252,756 miles away. I really sympathized — and never more so than when I arrived at the Chabot rest rooms and discovered they were closed for repairs. “Just like the astronauts,” Rich exclaimed. “Chabot is really providing the full Artemis II experience!” We were directed upstairs to an all-gender restroom with multi-gender stalls, a novel experience that gave me added appreciation for the lack of privacy the astronauts had to put up with in space. Boy, you had to give it to Chabot for knowing how to work a theme! A few minutes later, when I saw the toilet designed for the Mir Space Station, I was really glad Chabot hadn’t gone the extra lightyear to provide a similar experience for us. By now I’d learned savvy visitors had arrived early to claim all of the Planetarium's comfy seating beneath a vast dome with crisp visuals and an excellent sound system. I was trying to sneak in to take a photo of the crowd under the dome when I accidentally wound up in the staff break room and met three teenage volunteers. They politely explained that no, they weren’t planning to become astronauts; they were considering careers in aerospace engineering, physics, and climate research. “I think Artemis II has taught us we should be happy,” said Jessica, “not just for advancing science but that we can all be celebrating together.”  High school students Srisai, Shaurya, and Jessica served as volunteers during the Splashdown Party at Chabot. In the end, Rich and I celebrated the occasion with 40 or 50 convivial latecomers jammed into a small room with a big screen, floorspace seating, and an abysmal sound system. But none of that mattered. I was as excited as the little kids who had dressed up for the occasion as Darth Vader and Spiderman and were now bouncing around the room. When the splashdown finally came, everyone shouted wildly, applauded the astronauts, and hugged their kids and one another. It was communal “moon joy” mingled with the kind of pride in America I’d felt in my teens, watching the first moon landing and knowing we could accomplish great things in the universe. Jessica was right; celebrating together was a rare and precious gift. Especially these days.  Everyone held their breath as the capsule carrying the astronauts drifted toward Earth. Next year, the crew of Artemis III will practice docking with lunar landers, and in 2028 Artemis IV will carry humans up to walk on the moon again. After that, will we head ever deeper into space, to play among the stars? What are the odds we’ll connect with our intergalactic hybrid cousins? Will they turn out to be reptilian humanoids, little green men, or something far more interesting? Will they prove to be good neighbors? Will we? It’s clear the US government isn’t telling us all they know, but they are dropping a few breadcrumbs. For instance, they just registered the domain name aliens.gov. To me that suggests they believe we’re not alone in the cosmos. Are they right? If so, this could mean Calvin and Hobbes cartoonist Bill Watterson hit the nail on the head when he said, “I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” IF YOU TRY TO LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND CAN'T, IT'S BECAUSE MY WEB HOSTING SERVICE IS HAVING SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE! And now, just for fun, here's the Teleportation Waffles ad. GOOD NEIGHBORS This is the third in my new series, Good Neighbors, which explores how people in my area, my nation, and beyond are working to help each other get through these challenging times. My weekly posts appear on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on my travel and research schedule. WANT TO READ MORE? To subscribe, send me an email. [email protected] SUBSCRIBED BUT NOT GETTING POST ANNOUNCEMENTS? Check your spam folder. If you still can't find them, please let me know. GOING SOMEWHERE? Enter any destination or topic, such as packing light or road food, in the search box below. If I've written about it, you'll find it.
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I couldn't stop saying it. “Who does that?” Rich and I were gazing at messages of hate taped to the front window of a restaurant I’ll call Ballistic Pizza. It felt like that moment in True Detective when they find the serial killer’s lair, lined with blurry photos and insane rants, and somebody gasps, “My God, he really is psycho!” We were in Petaluma, CA, a peaceful little city that was once America’s poultry capital; today it’s famous for community spirit, including the annual Butter and Egg Day parade. It was Easter Sunday and a glorious spring morning, so everyone was heading into charming bistros and sidewalk cafés for brunch. But inside Ballistic Pizza, not a creature was stirring.  Ballistic Pizza was completely empty Easter morning. I can't imagine why... Outside, a woman was weeding the edge of the driveway that had sparked all the ranting. For 120 years it had provided a convenient shortcut to the next block, and not surprisingly, neighbors continued to stroll through, ignoring the “Stop” and “No Trespassing” signs. Occasionally their dogs peed on the wall. Shocking human and canine behavior, I know. But worth all the fuss? Really?  Traffic cones repurposed to serve as warning signs. I briefly considered trying to interview the weeding woman, but that would have required venturing across the disputed territory, and I had no idea whether the situation might be escalating. Was she a gardener or a nutjob waiting for an excuse to photograph me for the wall of hate, zap me with a stun gun, and/or call the cops? After Rich’s brush with the law last week, I decided not to press my luck. Now that I’m back in the USA, I’m noticing a definite uptick in the amount of tension, rage, and anxiety all around me — more than I’ve seen in the past, and way more than I experienced in Spain over the last six months — or ever. Some Americans are expressing their angst in temper tantrums and hissy fits. Madness is becoming the new normal.  "His final Internet search was 'insane monkey how make calm down.'" Fortunately for humanity's last shreds of sanity, plenty of people are holding on to their decency and finding ways to help one another. I spoke with one of those helpers this week: Poppy Granger, who arrived breathless at the coffee house where we’d arranged to meet. “Sorry I’m late,” she said. “The medical building where I work was on lockdown for the last four hours.” “Because…?” “A shooting.” She shrugged. As a social worker and psychotherapist in Richmond, CA, she found such events almost routine. “I need a hug.” Hugs completed, coffee collected, we sat down to talk about books.  Poppy Granger started the Blacklisted Bookshelf to help neighbors access books that have been challenged or banned. Poppy moved to California in 1993, the summer she turned fourteen. “The world outside had fallen apart," she said, "and my parents did not have a happy marriage. So the one place that was always safe in my house was reading books in our room. I learned how to read at a very early age, and I read a lot of books. I still read a couple of hundred books a year.” In 2023 she heard about the “Don’t Say Gay” law and learned one Florida county had pulled 1600 books off library shelves. When CNN posted the list, she vowed to read them all. She’s still working on it. For those who haven’t been following the skyrocketing censorship movement — which is understandable, as there’s LOTS going on these days — ultraconservative parents are on the warpath to prevent kids from reading about race, sex, or the viewpoints of uppity women. From 2021 to 2025 there were 22,820 book bans in American schools.  Just a few of the frequently banned classics that may soon disappear from all American schools because they don't meet the "moral standards" of politicians. How does it work? An objection by one parent can get a book pulled from the school library and curriculum while everyone debates its merits. Even if the ban is lifted, parents may launch online attacks on anyone who recommends it. To keep their jobs and reputations, many teachers and librarians stop giving teens To Kill a Mockingbird and no longer suggest James and the Giant Peach to younger readers. Utah, South Carolina, and Tennessee now have statewide “no read” lists. House Resolution 7661, which is up for a vote soon, wants to make such lists national. It would classify as “porn” any book that mentions adult nudity, gender identity, or (brace yourself) lewd dancing. Yikes! Can’t have kids discovering that! Such works of “porn” as Peter Pan and The Handmaid’s Tale could become illegal in all American schools. Seeing this coming, Poppy launched The Blacklisted Bookshelf after winning one of those Little Free Libraries at a Rotary Club charity auction. She decided to buy second-hand banned books to fill it and left a notebook for people to request hard-to-find titles. Poppy got many thank you notes and requests; she fills as many as she can at her own expense. Over time she’s added libraries specializing in Spanish works, romance, fantasy, and children’s books — all banned, all given away free.  Duck Duck Books is Poppy's latest, a Little Free Library of children's books that have been banned. “I went online at 9:00 one night and said, ‘I’ll give a book to anyone who wants it, if you can’t get it in your area,’” she recalls. “I woke up the next morning and had 117,000 views and over 1000 people asking for books.” She set up a Go-Fund-Me to cover the shipping costs. “And then came the government shut down. As a social worker in Richmond, I knew all of my patients’ SNAP benefits were ending, and so I put out an announcement saying I have enough funding to feed 150 families with bare minimum. And I'm pulling all my books and I'm turning the libraries into food pantries for the time being. Because I remember what it's like not to have food. It sucks. When the government reopened, I went back to books, but that first Little Free Library still has food pantry stuff in it.” That’s when the Golden State Warriors heard about Poppy and gave her their Impact Warrior Award, saying, “Whether fighting for literacy or tackling food insecurity, her compassion knows no bounds.”  Poppy showed CBS how her Little Free Libraries were being repurposed as food pantries. I don’t often feel like a total slouch, but listening to Poppy, I began to wonder if I need to up my game. She is inspiring — the kind of good neighbor who gives me hope. As for Ballistic Pizza Crackpot, here’s what some of his neighbors had to say about him on Reddit. “He gave me a hard time for taking one extra napkin.” “Creepy ass dude.” “Seems like in the time it took to make one of these signs, he could have poured a pitcher of water on 100 dog pees. I guess everyone needs a passion. I suppose he is following his bliss.” Well, that’s a charitable way to view it. As for me, I’m not wasting another minute thinking about Ballistic Pizza Crackpot. I have downloaded the list of 22,820 book bans, and I’m going to be far too busy reading to worry about who is peeing on anybody’s driveway. Curious to know more? Banned books lists, including the 22,820 Master List, the 25 Most Frequently Banned, Top 25 Banned in Schools Last Year, Most-Banned LGBTQ+ Titles, Top 100 Banned, Books Banned in California, and Statewide Bans in Utah House Resolution 7661 The Blacklisted Bookshelf  GOOD NEIGHBORS This is the second in my new series, Good Neighbors, which explores how people in my area and my nation are working to help each other get through these challenging times. I'll be posting weekly, on Tuesday or Wednesday depending on my travel and research schedule. WANT TO READ MORE? To subscribe, send me an email. [email protected] SUBSCRIBED BUT NOT GETTING POST ANNOUNCEMENTS? Check your spam folder. If you still can't find them, please let me know. GOING SOMEWHERE? Enter any destination or topic, such as packing light or road food, in the search box below. If I've written about it, you'll find it. |
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