No Boundaries
As I sat on the cold floor of our family room, the static energy from our Zenith black and white television pulled my long, fine hair toward the screen. The invisible force causing my hair to dance in mid air was fascinating, however, it was the content on the glowing screen that captivated my attention. Growing up in the 60s and 70s included shared media experiences. With only a couple of TV channels to choose from, we watched significant world events together, and those events shaped our lives.
I vividly remember watching Gene Cernan, Ron Evans, and Harrison Schmidt spend a record-breaking 22 hours and 4 minutes conducting science experiments on the moon's surface for three days in 1972. After dinner on December 11, I dutifully brushed my teeth and put on my flannel pajamas. Reluctant to observe my normal bed time, I convinced my parents let me watch Apollo's lunar rover instead of crawling under the covers.
Over half-a-million people witnessed the mission's launch in person at Kennedy Space Center, and more millions of people worldwide were tickled at the sight of Gene Cernan perched high on the throne of a fat-tire rover, bouncing around the Taurus-Littrow Valley. To say that vision of lunar exploration ignited my young mind is an understatement. Even though there was no Canadian space program or any women astronauts, I saw myself as an explorer. To me, Gene Cernan had superpowers. He had flown into space and moved freely on that glowing orb in the night sky.
I wasn't just enthralled by outer space. Inner space also called my name. Watching the television on Sunday nights, I wondered what it would be like to float in Jacques Cousteau's ocean world or soar through the evening sky accompanied by birds. There wereno bounds to my young imagination.
When I wrote the children's book "The Aquanaut," I wanted to reconnect with the joyous sense of possibility, where a young mind starts to fuse an image of what they might do when they grow older. As a seven-year-old, every door was open to me, and with the right encouragement, as an adult I realized my dreams of exploring places where no human had been before.
In an ideal world, ”The Aquanaut" will encourage young readers to see their possibilities, and to pursue their curiosity and visualize a path forward to achieving their wildest dreams. I know a certain young wispy-haired Canadian girl that discovered anything is possible.
To be wild is not to be crazy or psychotic. True wildness is a love of nature, a delight in silence, a voice free to say spontaneous things, and an exuberant curiosity in the face of the unknown.
~ Robert Bly
Chasing The Oracle - An Audio Story of an Expedition to the Lawless Egyptian-Libyan Desert in Search of Alexander the Great
My Vitiligo - From Robert
I have a little-understood autoimmune condition called Vitiligo. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had small white “blotches” on my body - from my hands to my feet. As I age, the patches become larger. And in summertime, when I spend more time outside and my skin tans, the whiteish-pink Vitiligo contrasted with my darker melanin is much more noticeable. Here’s a video I created about “My Vitiligo.”
Last weekend we marked Canada Day with a cruise along Mississippi Lake with Jill’s new river dive boat - an inflatable electric powered “Takacat.” I did not set out to make a video but as I had my iPhone with me, I wanted to share this cool little watercraft with you.
We hope you have a great week! Cheers, Jill and Robert
Hi Oliver, I bought the 300LX. The open front makes it sort of like a landing craft which is super easy to board... easier than a normal pontoon boat. It is cozy for two people noodling around for fun and good for one person for filling it with tech scuba gear. Love it so far!
Happy Canada Day! By the way, which size of boat have you got? And I really would like to hear your thoughst about that boat compared to a normal one (especially getting in/out of the boat, normally and in an emergency).