Afternoon Thoughts

September 17, 2026

I was reading something this afternoon that reminded me of a time I went on a battleship. It was the first time I had seen one in person. I was shocked by how big it was. I could not wrap my head around how big it was.

That made me think about the submarine USS Drum because it's on display with the USS Alabama for civilians to go in and check out. If I recall correctly, it's a WWII sub, and it is the oldest on display in the states. The smell that hits you when you walk in literally made my teeth hurt. That smell always has. I can't stand it.

Other than that, I was really surprised by how close the quarters actually are. I'm pretty short, but it felt tiny even to me. I walked around contemplating what it must have felt like to be one of the 70 (give or take) souls on board. I'm pretty sure it would have poked at me to have that many people so close for such an extended period. I am not fond of my personal space being invaded.

That got me thinking of other places I've been where imagination doesn't quite meet reality. In the 80s, I was fortunate to go to Houston for some NASA fun. I was awed by Mission Control. I really felt like I was seeing something magical. I eagerly took my husband there in the 90s because I wanted him to feel that magic, too. It was very shabby then. I couldn't quite believe I was looking at the same place.

On the opposite end of that spectrum, I was also blessed to see the beginnings of what would eventually become the ISS. It blew my mind and filled me with many a fantasy. Fast forward to when I took my husband and we saw full mockups and got to see training in their massive pool. (I think it's called a neutral buoyancy lab, or something like that.) It makes me wonder what I'd see thirty years later. I will have to go back.

That is also the first time I saw an IMAX movie. The screen was five stories tall. I had seen some pretty big screens in California, but nothing like that. Just like the projection mapping at Disney World was mind blowing. It looked so real. Both made me cry, though decades apart.

I have all these instances in my mind. Places that no longer exist. Memories I can never share because they've been wiped off the map. Areas that no longer seem as magical as they once did. Or areas that now break my heart. There are some places, like hospitals, that you grow up thinking you have a pretty good idea of what a hospital looks like. That is until you see hospitals in different countries than your own. Same goes for gas stations/convenience stores and any number of other things.

I think about where you can walk down the street and see history mingling together. Whereas in other places, everything is constantly torn down and rebuilt. I think about cabins I've been inside that are smaller than my bedroom, but housed large families. There's also houses that are even older that are so large I'd get lost in them. The ballroom of one such house looked nothing like what I pictured when reading books. It was tiny. As was the beds and bathing tubs. Extremely tiny. Then I think of the massive cathedrals and castles.

Of course, there's the land. Woods, swamps, forests, and more. All significantly changed in such a short period of time. Smells and sounds just gone. Ecosystems destroyed. Life shifted. Humans with their eyes wide shut. On and on it goes.

Experience is rarely what we think it will be. An open mind allows it to broaden our understanding. So many forces would rather stifle that ability than enhance it. I find myself thinking about that more and more.

This entry isn't going to have a tidy ending. I think that quite suitable, as life usually doesn't. It just keeps transforming and continuing. Alas, how might we change if we could see and feel through another's eyes? What might happen if carrying multiple perspectives became the norm instead of the exception? I wonder. I wander a lot.

(Not edited.)