Over the moon
-------------

"Those things are so ugly," Ellie said as she ran the razor
over my scalp. The subject of her disapproval had just
pulled up in front of the barber shop, though it appeared
its owner was bound for the bakery next door.

"Yeah, not a fan myself" I replied, a bit of an
understatement. I'd never quite decided whether "wank
panzer" or "swastikar" was the better epithet. 

Normally Mark cuts what remains of my hair, but when he's
away or all booked up Ellie is my go-to. Mark and I exchange
pleasantries about the usual old-guy stuff (golf, vacation
plans) but conversations with Ellie tend to be a bit more
unpredictable.

"Have you been following the astronauts?" she asked.

I attempted a feeble joke. "Well, not literally."

She looked at me blankly.

"What I mean is yes, I guess I have, but not the way I would
have when I was younger." I'm old enough to have seen the
first moon landing live on TV, though I'm not sure I
remember it. But I do remember having pictures of Apollo 11,
the Eagle, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin
plastered all over my bedroom walls when I was a boy. When
people asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I said I
wanted to be an astronaut.

"I heard they went further away from the Earth than anyone
has ever gone."

"I don't blame them. The way things are at the moment, they
might just want to keep going."

She was quiet for a bit, as she trimmed my receding widow's
peak. "Maybe one day people will go to Mars. Elon Musk said
it's only a few years away."

"He tends to exaggerate," I said, another understatement.
"Pretty sure it won't happen. Maybe in your lifetime, but
not in mine. You want to go to Mars, Ellie?"

She laughed. "No, I like it here."

I think I was in middle school when Asimov's "The Next
Frontier?" appeared in National Geographic, describing a
visit to a giant cylindrical space colony in the far-off
year of 2026. I mostly remember the illustrations, somehow
hyper-futuristic and yet reassuringly suburban at the same
time, with human-scale settlements surrounded by parks and
farmland.  For a time, I desperately wanted to live there,
but now I could not for the life of me tell you why.
Perhaps it was some kind of inarticulate longing for
transcendence, a chance to escape earthly cares out among
the stars. Or maybe I just thought it would be cool to live
in space. I don't remember; 50 years is a long time.

Nowadays, I'm with Ellie. Despite all the crap that's going
on, I do like it here. I don't really think running away to
space would solve anything.

I looked at myself in the mirror; Ellie hadn't had much to
work with but had done a great job nonetheless.  For that, I
gave her a good tip, and to atone for my somewhat gloomy
demeanour.

There was a gentle breeze blowing when I stepped outside,
and I saw that the [insert epithet of your choice] had
driven off. One day it would break down and be hauled away
for scrap, I thought.  Maybe even in my lifetime.


Sun Apr 12 17:27:12 PDT 2026