odds

I seem to be at odds today. I'm pretty sure it's because my schedule has been thrown out of whack from yesterday's day off.
Heck, for that matter, Wednesday was pretty much a wash for me, too. I had felt like it was Friday all day; even though I didn't have to go to work that day, I had gone briefly, then I kept my usual afternoon schedule for a Wednesday. But, no, not quite. I did have a dental appointment that afternoon, which made it Friday-ish again.
I need to have a schedule, during the daylight hours especially, to help me run on an even keel. Holidays tend to upset that schedule by encouraging me to alter my body clock, sleeping in later, staying up later. Today COULD have been a Sunday, but the only news program I watch (CBS Sunday Morning) was not on to begin my day. Ergo, this was NOT Sunday. Nor was it a Saturday, because surely that was yesterday... right? If the day before was, indeed, Friday?
I remember not having such difficulty keeping track of the days of the week when I was once a shift-worker. True, that was MANY years ago: in fact, about three decades ago. I was obviously much younger then and somehow didn't pay as much attention to the actual DAYS of the week. The schedule was 2-2-2-80 and encompassed the working of forty-eight hours (six eight-hour shifts) over a span of five days, then having eighty hours off (slightly more than three days). The eight-day schedule very much suited me, as I needed to rise early only for two days of evry eight. Better yet, I had a three-day "weekend" that rotated through the actual days, allowing me to have days off when the majority of folks were at work. That meant the beaches would be nigh deserted there in Panama and Okinawa and San Diego, allowing me to enjoy the ocean and sun and sand uninterrupted. Very nice!
So, today, on this extra Saturday-esque day, it was odd for me to feel off-kilter. In an effort to feel more "normal" and to acknowledge this period of time to be a Friday, I even worked for a while today, spending several hours completing the grading of the last of the lab reports. (Yeah!) Then I went to a movie, as I tend to do sometimes on a Friday afternoon. But I had no plans for later this evening... which made me question whether this was indeed a Friday. Sigh. Back to square one again.
Perhaps tomorrow will set me straight again. We shall see. I do hope so.

butterfly

As I was diddy-bopping through some of my bookmarks this evening, I stumbled across one I had forgotten: images from the Hubble Space telescope. Incredibly beautiful pictures of other worlds, of our world, of galaxies which are truly far away.
The featured image is of the Butterfly Nebula. Quite striking, is it not? How amazing it must have been for the astronomers who first saw this otherworldly, incandescent insect. Can you imagine? Downloading data from the instrument and having THIS appear? Not only are the wings clearly evidenced, but the dark, fuzzy body is also well-defined. What thoughts would such an image evoke when viewed from one's spacecraft hurtling in its direction?
How amazing if the butterfly were actually in the vicinity of the Rosette Nebula! Bearing in mind that space is more vast than the mind can comprehend, perhaps a distance of some hundred light-years is no greater than that between oceans on this pretty blue-green orb. Given the correct perspective, of course.
Sometimes, I wish I could see more of the stars which light the sky, not just at night but at all times. We must take care to remember that bit: the stars are always there, even when you cannot see them. Beloved friends and family are, like stars, always in your personal galaxy, even though great distances of either space or time may intervene.
I have other pictures from this site which I'm going to add to my beach. After all, it is MY beach, MY world, and I can populate it as I will. Things of beauty are always welcome here, with "beauty" being defined by MY eyes.