It's Very ... Florida!

This is a guest posting from a friend of mine who lives in Orlando, an hour away from Cape Canaveral, and who is a space nut. I’m not terribly interested in the space program, but nothing I have read explains the thrill like this stream of consciousness I have edited down from an Instant-Message exchange from just before until just after launch of the space shuttle the night of Dec. 9, viewable from her back yard.

[08:43 PM]: 3 minutes. I'm going out now. see ya when she's up and safe

[08:52 PM]: that is so FUCKING great!!

as soon as they go to ignition, the whole sky lights up, and i'm an hour away!


it's like a nuclear explosion, it's that bright

and it rises slowly into the sky, what a show for all the planes coming into OIA

bright orange, and then you can see the SRBs detach and fall away

its incredible from here, so much more so when you go down to the coast to see it up close

you see it, then feel the rumble, low at first, then it hits you in the gut

if you're on the water, the fish start jumping out

here, all the dogs started to bark

and you hear all the people standing in their backyards, yelling and clapping

it is something to see, and i've seen it many times

at work, we go out into the area where the tourists are, not caring. and we yell and clap. no matter how many times you see it

it's very .... florida. It's ours, and we love it