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From:
Kezia Radke
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Saturday, September 26, 2020
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From the files of Walt
SUNSET AT SEA
As I stand at the rail in the after portion of the ship, and gaze outwardly over the calm blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, I am awed at the sight before me.
The dark blue of the ocean surrounds and engulfs the ship on all sides. The smooth surface of the waters is disturbed only slightly by the rippling motion produced by the winds and the forward motion of the ship as it cuts forward bound for Hawaii.
For a vast distance, nothing is seen but water. And then the ocean stops and the sky takes over.
The sky is at first a light and beautiful blue much contrasted to the darkness of the mighty sea. As I raise my gaze upward, the sky is abruptly cut by a band of brilliant red and pink of the sunset. Then upward some more the sky becomes the telltale grey of night.
The only thing breaking the blanket of grey coming to meet the dark blue of the ocean is the moor., that reflector of our own star, Sol (our Sun). But as it grows darker more lights appear. First one, then another, and then the sky is filled with an immeasurable number of tiny appearing stars, yet their immensity and distance are quite incomprehensible and known only to God.
Surely it is a wonderful God who has created these things of beauty and power--and truly a generous and benevolent God to allow me and other mortals to behold its eloquent grandeur.
Walter B. Huckaby,
USNS Barret
August 20, 1961 at 7:30 P.M. midway between San Diego and Hawaii
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From:
Kezia Radke
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Saturday, September 26, 2020
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Short Story from Walt's files:
Don't Be A Litterbug
Jynxxx Lynxxx had never been so excited. He was finally going to solo in the Galaxy Class spacecraft. His only limitation was that he could not go too far.
As soon as he cleared the planet, he activated the hyper-drive. Stars blurred as he approached and then exceeded light speed. He was so absorbed in the fantastic sight through the front widow, that he went way beyond his allotted 20 parsecs.
In his panic to slow down, he accidentally pressed the radiation dump button. The ship came to an abrupt stop spilling huge amounts of radiation on the nearby planet.
He flew close to the ground to get a better idea as to how much damage he might have caused. The damage was extensive, affecting huge chunks of ore in the surrounding hills. In the process of documenting the damage, he almost did not see the giant two-legged creature from this planet. He buzzed right by his head, barely missing him.
John Marshall went down to the river to inspect progress at Sutter's Mill. He felt the breeze as the very small spaceship buzzed by his head. "Dratted bugs," he said. Then his eye caught something new in the bottom of the ditch in front of him. As he said later, "I reached my hand down and picked it up; it made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold... Then I saw another."
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From:
Kezia Radke
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Saturday, September 26, 2020
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Short story from Walt's Files:
The Coffee Craving Computer
The computer observed its owner drinking coffee at Starbucks. He noticed how much the owner really enjoyed drinking the coffee, and how it gave him a special spark of energy. The computer began to want to have a drink of the coffee himself. He didn’t know how he could do this. He finally thought of a way: the alarm system in the computer could either beep or vibrate. Perhaps if he vibrated at just the right time he could knock over the coffee cup onto his keyboard and finally experience the joy of drinking coffee. The owner placed his full cup of coffee right next to the computer as he usually did. The computer started the vibration, and the coffee cup began to vibrate and finally tilted and spilled its contents onto the computer. At last, the computer thought, I get to taste the coffee. However, much to the computers surprise, the coffee shorted out its components and he immediately lost consciousness. Computers cannot drink coffee.
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