The Speeding Earth

The author Chet Raymo in his book The Soul of the Night describes the motion of a child as she is knocked into the air by a collision with a skateboarder:

During the time the child was in the air, the spinning Earth carried her half a mile to the east. The motion of the Earth around the sun carried her back again forty miles westward. The drift of the solar system among the stars of the Milky Way bore her silently twenty miles toward the star Vega. The turning pinwheel of the Milky Way Galaxy carried her 300 miles in a great circle about the galactic center. After that huge flight through space she hit the ground and bounced like a rubber ball.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Tracks

When taking Hikari out at night, we mostly hear the wind in the trees. Most animals keep a distance from the house because of our dog. So it is always a surprise to hear the sound of a large mammal being startled, as happened the other night. The next day, not only we found evidence of the animal, but also of its other two companions. We often see small herds of deer this time of year, but they usually avoid the area around our house. Click on the image for a larger view.