When I Grow Up…..My Post for Vicki.

When I grow up, and finally decide to let my hair go fully grey, I want to be like John Dobson. I love this man, and hope one day I might meet him. A year or two ago, on a weeknight I couldn’t sleep. So, instead of tossing and turning, I went out to the living room and turned on the tv. This is when I first learned of John Dobson who is the inventor of the Dobsonian telescope and one of the co-creators of the Sidewalk Astronomers.

To this day, John is in his 80’s and living a very simplistic life in San Francisco. He still finds the energy and enthusiasm to go out on sidewalk corners with his huge telescope to share a tiny sliver of the universe with whoever is passing by.

On the PBS documentary that I saw about him, I loved how people, simply living their lives, would walk by…and this eccentric looking man would say “C’mon, come look at the moon.” And some people would stop, and when they would look into his telescope and see our beloved lunar satellite–the expression on their faces and their reactions are priceless!

John does all this to make people aware how microscopically small we really are in this incredibly huge universe. He does this to make people realize how insignificant and petty are little troubles and triumphs are in the big scheme of things. His tactics are not aggressive, he simply provides a free opportunity to view the moon, or a planet billion miles away, or even the sun close up.

What draws me to Mr. Dobson’s soul is his never ending passion, his humor, and his deep, deep wisdom. What beauty lies in a life well lived with great purpose, dedication, and zeal. John Dobson is a great reminder to live each and every moment with a fever for life. Some may call it passion, or bliss, or even crazy..but when I look at John Dobson and his mission in life, I see only love.

Peace & Love.