Found in Fishers

The final countdown

Twenty-nine years ago I drove from IU down to Huntsville, Alabama to pick up my buddy, Doug, and together we traveled to the Kennedy Space Center. I had passes to photograph the launch of STS-3. The Shuttle program was in its infancy and our 3-day roadtrip turned into a full week. We managed to get burned to the crisp sitting for the better part of two long days in the hot Florida sun on the press mound just 3 miles from Pad 39A...the closest anyone could get to the launch site.

I managed to make some fairly good pictures. But more than the pictures I will always remember how it felt when those solid rocket boosters ignited and the Shuttle stretched skyward. It was like someone was standing behind me with invisible hands on my shoulders shaking the living daylights out of me. It's an experience I'm thankful for this morning as I watch the launch of STS-135 -- the grand finale of the Shuttle program -- streaming on my smartphone.

Who knows if I'll be alive when the U.S. rolls out its next manned spaceflight program. While it will be a neat experience seeing a Shuttle up close in a museum, I would much prefer to see them rocketing off a launch pad in Florida. Watching the streaming NASA feed I'm reminded of the family trips to see my aunt and uncle in Florida as a kid...my dad pulling to the shoulder of Florida A1A...me climbing on top of the old Plymouth to gawk & point like thousands of others as an Apollo launch rocketed overhead enroute to the Moon. Exciting stuff...then and now.

I'm glad I got to experience a Shuttle launch firsthand. More than a million people are in the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center for this morning's spectacle. I'm also happy I made that trip with my high school buddy Doug; two years ago he died unexpectedly.

I'll miss the Shuttle program; I think the country will too. Sure, we'll have a few billion more to help pay down the national debt or fund another handout program, but the Shuttle made much better TV viewing than the recently concluded trial of you-know-who. But maybe that's the crux of the problem: Given the dumbing down of America and our penchant for "reality" TV, perhaps the Shuttle program and the brave men and women who risked all to advance science and human knowledge simply weren't pedestrian enough for the average Joe.

Godspeed Atlantis! --Juan

 

This place is for the birds

Our little feathered-friend who's taken up residence on our front door wreath must be close to motherhood. Up until a few days ago she would take off the minute the door opened. But not anymore. We come and go for the newspaper and mail and she sits tight, just giving us the evil eye as if to say, "Who do you think you are?". Don't mind us, we only own the house. Given momma's lack of interest in flying the coop I figure her eggs are ready to pop any day now. So it only seems appropriate that we name her...and we need your help.

Give us your suggestions for naming momma bird and our the winner -- chosen by our select panel of judges -- will receive a very special, one-of-a-kind Found In Fishers keepsake. Be creative and let's get those names rollin' in!