Tidings…

Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan on Unsplash

Hi friends, several writers and I were invited by the lovely Constance Malloy to contribute 150 words or fewer of comfort and hope for the Winter Solstice. Please do check out her blog and read the wonderful messages and tiny stories from Pat Foran, Audra Kerr Brown, Kathy Hoyle, Sara Dobbie, Tom Gumbert, Kelle Clark, Eric Scott Tryon, Christi Craig, Shome Dasgupta, Myles Hopper, Al Kratz, Melissa Llanes Brownlee, Amy Barnes, Nancy Bauer-King, Barlow Adams, and Francine Witte. Here is my contribution:

Tidings

Just a few days ago, Japanese scientists employing the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile discovered a “stellar cocoon” at the extreme outer edge of our galaxy, revealing the hidden chemical complexity of our Universe. I looked it up—outer space is impossibly frigid (minus 455 degrees Kelvin), yet like a blanket or a womb, the word “cocoon” evokes warmth, protection. I know we’re feeling depleted, wrung out, careworn, but let’s be comforted by this: Light years away, a newborn star wrapped in organic “stuff” will grow and thrive. I’m not the least bit religious and I don’t mean to go all Carl Sagan on you, but this is extraordinary! And reason to hope. Vast and cold and unknowable as it is, the universe keeps finding ways to re-create itself. Perhaps we can too. 

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