Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 16, 2014

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

SECTION B


ROSETTA ARRIVES AT COMET DESTINATION

On August 6, after a decade-long journey chasing 
its target, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta 
became the first spacecraft to rendezvous with 
a comet, opening a new chapter in solar system 
exploration.

 Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and 
Rosetta now lie 243 million miles from Earth, 
about halfway between the orbits of Jupiter and 
Mars, rushing towards the inner solar system at 
nearly 33,000 miles per hour.

 The comet is in an elliptical 6.5-year orbit that 
takes it from beyond Jupiter, at its farthest point, 
to between the orbits of Mars and Earth at its 
closest to the Sun. Rosetta will accompany it for 
over a year as it swings around the Sun and back 
out toward Jupiter again.

 Comets are considered to be primitive 
building blocks of the solar system and may have 
helped to ‘seed’ Earth with water, perhaps even 
the ingredients for life. But many fundamental 
questions about these enigmatic objects remain, 
and through a comprehensive, in situ study of 
the comet, Rosetta aims to unlock the secrets 
within.

 The journey to the comet was not 
straightforward. Since its launch in 2004, 
Rosetta had to make three gravity-assist flybys of 
Earth and one of Mars to put it on course for its 
rendezvous with the comet. This complex course 
also allowed Rosetta to pass by asteroids Steins 
and Lutetia, obtaining unprecedented views and 
scientific data on these two objects.

 “After ten years, five months and four days 
travelling towards our destination, looping 
around the Sun five times and clocking up 3.8 
billion miles, we are delighted to announce 
finally ‘we are here,’” says Jean-Jacques Dordain, 
ESA’s Director General. “Europe’s Rosetta is 
now the first spacecraft in history to rendezvous 
with a comet, a major highlight in exploring our 
origins. The discoveries can begin.”

 The comet began to reveal its personality 
while Rosetta was on its approach. Images taken 
between late April and early June showed that 
its activity was variable. The comet’s ‘coma’—
an extended envelope of gas and dust—became 
rapidly brighter and then died down again over 
the course of those six weeks.

 Then, stunning images taken from a distance 
of about 7,000 miles began to reveal that the 
nucleus comprises two distinct segments joined 
by a ‘neck.’

 “Our first clear views of the comet have given 
us plenty to think about,” says Matt Taylor, ESA’s 
Rosetta project scientist. “Is this double-lobed 
structure built from two separate comets that 
came together in the solar system’s history, or is 
it one comet that has eroded dramatically and 
asymmetrically over time? Rosetta, by design, 
is in the best place to study one of these unique 
objects.”

 Today, Rosetta is just 60 miles from the comet’s 
surface, but it will edge closer still. 

At the same time, more of the suite of instruments 
will provide a detailed scientific study of the 
comet, scrutinizing the surface for a target site 
for the Philae lander.

 “Over the next few months, in addition to 
characterizing the comet nucleus and setting 
the bar for the rest of the mission, we will begin 
final preparations for another space history first: 
landing on a comet,” says Taylor.

 “After landing, Rosetta will continue to 
accompany the comet until its closest approach 
to the Sun in August 2015 and beyond, watching 
its behavior from close quarters to give us a 
unique insight and real-time experience of how a 
comet works as it hurtles around the Sun.”

You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com


THE CROWS ARE COMING! 

THE CROWS ARE COMING!

CASSIE’S GIFT

By Christopher Nyerges

[Nyerges is 
the author 
of numerous 
books, including 
“Til Death Do 
us Part?” (on 
Kindle), “How 
to Survive 
Anywhere,” 
etc. He can be 
reached at www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com, or Box 41834, Eagle 
Rock, CA 90041. He regularly participates in 
seminars on death and metaphysical topics. For 
details, go to www.wtinc.info.]

 I have many fond memories of 17 years with 
my purebred pit bull, Cassius Clay, who died one 
Easter Sunday. I remember the end of his life the 
most right now. I thought that I was taking care 
of Cassie and helping and saving him – I had to 
carry him in and out, and was always concerned 
about his welfare. In the end, I realize that Cassie 
was helping and saving me. He instilled in me 
a sense of responsibility and caring that maybe I 
never had before.

 When I walked today, I missed Cassie so 
much, and I thought about his role in my life. I 
thought about how I tried to see his dog pictures 
of the world, how he processes the many smells 
that he takes so long each day to smell. When 
I attempted to go into his mind, like Beatrice 
Lydecker described in her What the Animals Tell 
Me book, I “saw” a colorful, very dynamic image 
of flowing geometric shapes that all moved like the 
wind in varying patterns, in a three-dimensional 
complexity. To me, it was the complexity of odors 
that meant so much to Cassie, and very little to 
me. 

 Shortly after he died, I asked him to show me 
his picture, and I “saw” in front of me his big 
face licking mine. He was telling me that he was 
happy, in peace, no pain and that I was OK.

 As I walked this morning, I thought about 
Easter Day when Cassie died. Though he had 
had trouble walking for weeks, he seemed OK 
in the morning. When I came home in the early 
evening, it was dark and Cassie was warm but I 
could not rouse him from his house, and when I 
pulled him out, I knew it was over, even though I 
tried to bring him back. There was no music, no 
singing of birds, just the quiet of the night and the 
final sounds of his dying body. 

 As I walked this morning, I realized that 
Cassie’s gift was his unconditional love. And now 
that he was gone, I tried to sort out the meaning 
of that love. I have heard it said that Eternal Life 
is synonymous with Eternal Love. That Eternal 
Love is also impersonal. It is universal loving 
without concern for prejudice or opinion or 
preferences. It is doing what is right, and not 
being concerned about my group, or my party, 
or my race, or my gender, or my family. It is 
finding those ways of thinking, and of living, that 
exemplify the Golden Rule, and Jesus’ command 
to “Love ye one another as your self.” Which 
means we must love our spiritual self, and see 
that every single one of us is the same. 

 Cassie taught me to be a better person. He 
taught me to see that only through impersonal 
love can we ever find real meaning and harmony. 
Of course, I feel a personal love for Cassie, 
and for other close people in my life. But now 
again, Cassie has made me realize that death is 
inevitable, and personal love is full of pain and 
heartache and disappointment. Impersonal 
loving is not focused exclusively towards one 
person or animal, but is a way of thinking about 
all life, including all animals. This was Cassie’s 
gift to me.

By Donna Packer

 The observant stroller of Sierra 
Madre’s streets may notice a marked 
increase of crows taking up residence 
in our foothill village during the 
coming weeks. These black-winged 
harbingers of autumn will be invading 
our town, and as citizens we are called 
upon to defend and protect our homes, 
businesses and institutions with …….. 
scarecrows! 

 Scarecrows have been used for more 
than 3,000 years to protect property and 
crops. Egyptian farmers along the Nile 
made the first scarecrows in recorded 
history to protect wheat fields from 
flocks of quail. Scarecrows in some form 
or other have been used in every country 
from the time of the Middle Ages to 
Medieval Britain to the American 
Colonies to the present. The Ancient 
Greeks carved wooden scarecrows and 
placed them in their vineyards, while in Germany farmers made wooden witches that would draw the 
evil spirit of winter away and usher in spring. In this country, German immigrants made human looking 
scarecrows called “bootzamon,” which was later changed to bogeyman. They were dressed in old clothes 
with a large red handkerchief around their necks. In the American Southwest, Zuni children in the 1800s 
had contests to see who could make the scariest or most unusual scarecrow. Scarecrows have evolved 
along with people and during the growing season scarecrows still stand in fields around the world, and 
each fall many communities across the United States and around the world have scarecrow contests. 

 Creative Arts Group is pleased to continue this tradition with Sierra Madre’s third Annual Scarecrow 
Contest and Festival beginning in September. Adults, children (16 and under), families, businesses, 
and organizations are invited to enter. Prizes will be awarded in several categories including most 
humorous, scariest, best use of technology or recycled materials, best representation of a business, 
church, service organization etc. among others. A free scarecrow-making workshop will be held at 
Creative Arts Group on Saturday September 13th (spaces are limited, so register early). Deadline for 
entering the contest is September 19th. For more information or to register for the free workshop go to 
creativeartsgroup.org/scarecrow-festival/. 


HOW TO MAKE 
YOUR YARD MORE 
ENVIRONMENTALLY 
FRIENDLY

It’s easy to make your home more 
eco-friendly, and your yard is a 
great place to start. This season, 
take steps to limit your home’s 
impact on the local environment 
by giving your outdoor spaces an 
earth-friendly makeover.

Limit Yard Waste

When the leaves fall from the 
trees, you may be dealing with 
extra bundles of yard waste. Take 
steps to handle the debris properly. 
Never throw your leaves and 
trimmings out with the garbage. 
Instead, try composting what you 
can at home or bagging the waste 
to use as mulch on an as-needed 
basis.

If your community has special 
pick-up days for yard waste, take 
advantage of those. Additionally, 
you can leave some clippings 
on the lawn to act as an organic 
fertilizer and provide the soil with 
nutrients.

Be Bird-Friendly

An eco-friendly yard will contain 
plenty of vegetation that provides 
cover and food for such wildlife as 
birds. Unfortunately your home 
itself can present a threat to their 
safety. Millions of wild birds 
are killed annually flying into 
windows.

You can protect birds from this 
fate by applying decals to your 
windows that contain a component 
that reflects ultraviolet sunlight. 
Try placing WindowAlert decals 
every few feet on your glass and 
applying WindowAlert UV liquid 
in the remaining areas. This will 
create a visual barrier that only 
birds can see and that helps them 
avoid striking glass.

Because the UV reflectivity may 
fade over time based on exposure, 
replace the decals every six to nine 
months and reapply the liquid 
every three months. For more 
application tips and information 
about bird safety, visit www.
WindowAlert.com.

Be Flexible

The mark of a beautiful, eco-
friendly yard is not necessarily 
a conventional lawn. Fuel, water 
and a lot of time are necessary 
to maintain green grass. In at 
least some parts of your property, 
consider alternative ground cover 
that has a lower carbon footprint 
to maintain. Ornamental grasses, 
shrubs, thyme and other colorful, 
low-maintenance plants that don’t 
grow very tall can make for a 
sustainable alternative that’s just 
as visually appealing as grass.

You may already be taking steps 
inside your home to be more 
planet-friendly, such as recycling, 
composting food scraps, using 
LED bulbs and turning off 
appliances when they aren’t in use. 
Now it’s time to take your greener 
living campaign to your home’s 
outdoor spaces by protecting 
wildlife and tweaking the way you 
maintain your lawn. 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com