October reflections

Every day so far this month I've been forgetting that it's October, doing things like writing 9/ beginning a date and having to scribble it out. But it's getting harder to forget. No longer is there a chance summer might slip back in for a last hoorah. The Halloween spirit is out in full-force -- I've taken the girls costume browsing already, and there are people with their orange lights up. The pumpkin patches have started. I wore long-sleeves the last couple of days. And today, the baseball (regular) season ended. A certain finale to a not-long-enough summer.


While disappointed in the lack of a post-season, I'm glad that the Phils completed their season in a solid second place, as I know it was, and could have remained, much worse. Of course, it was also better at one point, but we'll chalk that up to Brave-ery.

Apparently the Phils management is much less tolerant than I, as they fired Larry Bowa yesterday with a year left on his contract, which I think is a little sad. Sure, he was a hard-@ss (with an overall losing record), but I still liked his style. Also, the fact that he came up in the Phillies organization as a player during their greatest years, seemed like good karma to me. Like all they lacked was Mike Schmidt as their hitting coach.

But what a baseball season it was, Phils aside. I feel bad for teams like the A's and Giants and Cubs that played so darn hard all season long, only to fall short in the end. But then there's the excellent surprises like the Angels, who were up and down between first and thrid all year, and the Astros, who won seven straight games at the end of the season to come out of nowhere and take the NL wild card from other apparent shoe-ins.

Of course, there was the new Phillies ball park, and I believe this year was the first year that attendance at ball games league-wide was at pre-strike levels (let that be a lesson to the players and MLB... ten years is a long recovery... I can only imagine where the game would be without the need for a recovery). And then there's the recent news that MLB is returning to Washington, DC. Just in time for my next east-coast vacation, which will include a DC visit, and fortunately now a DC ball game.

My (likely incorrect) October prediction? St. Louis all the way, winning the series in six. Boston, I love an underdog, and I'll be rooting for you (plus you have ex-Phils ace Schilling... how could I NOT root for you), but, well, I'm afraid this year destiny is in the Cards, so to speak.



October Black Sky
I intended, but completely forgot when it came time to write, to pay homage to the enormously historical event that took place last week. In my opinion, September 29th, 2004, will go down in history as the space-equivalent to December 17th, 1903.

As the first private astronaut crossed the boundary of space, and with several recent commercial announcements, the chances that, if not my children then my grandchildren, will be able to live and/or work in space are better than ever.

Tomorrow, that same group will take to the black sky once more, to win the $10 million X-Prize, and change the world forever.

Two major companies have announced plans to offer space flights for the average citizen by 2006. And already there will be a $50 million follow-up space prize for the team that puts up a reusable orbital craft by the end of the decade.

This is such an exciting time, only it isn't empty promises by governments anymore. I remember how much talk of a space station by 1995 and mission to mars by 2004 when I was a kid got me all riled up about the day I could work in space, or live on the moon. I can only imagine the dreams and aspirations being conjured-up by the impressionable youth of today. Let's not let them down this time.