My beloved readers, I’m sorry it’s taken so much time to get back to you. I’m assuming many of you believe that my entries are coming from a looney bin. They may seem as the rantings of a madman. After all, it’s quite difficult to consider that the Federal Government and NASA would leave someone in space, without a trace of my existence left behind. Much less a woman from a different era entirely! However, I have come up with some possible evidence that might convince some of you readers that at the very least, I’m stuck in orbit around earth. Now, in the past few weeks I’ve been having trouble trying to fight off this damning boredom. I had spent most of my days with the gravity off, floating around my cabin staring out the window. I barely touched any of the technological devices provided to me by the “good” folks at NASA. Yet one of them caught my interest when it gently bumped into the back of my head. It was a beautiful camera, unlike anything I had ever seen before! Unlike the 60’s styled blocky cameras I was familiar with, this one was smooth and had a gracile lens. I thought maybe by taking pictures, someone would believe my story. However, utilizing the Google feature, I realized there are now satellites taking pictures of earth constantly. As hope faded, I decided to familiarize myself with the camera regardless. After all, film and photography were a hobby of mine in college, even when the tools for such a craft were quite rudimentary in my time. The following days I would capture hundreds of images of the planet I missed so much. The most fascinating part was how bright earth is when it becomes night time! There must be so many cities, illuminating nearly every crevice of earth.
How do you, my dear reader, manage to sleep with so much light?
This became a central subject of interest for me, as I would focus primarily on capturing our planet in these moments. Earth’s night time soon became my day time. However, one night something caught my eye- it was the north west coast of Australia. Initially, I knew something was off. Usually, the lights that encapsulate earth are a neon white. They can be almost blinding to stare at for too long. But in Australia, the lights were much more subtle, they can be more accurately described as a glow. A glow that was rather red. As earth continued to orbit, Australia came into clearer focus. The whole continent had the same radiance. I’m now horrified to confess this, but at first, I thought it was utterly beautiful. Until it stuck me. Like a brick to the back of my head, it struck me. The only way Australia would glow in such a way, would be from a devastating fire. Past my window, thousands of miles away, forests are on fire. Animals, going extinct. People, dying. And there’s nothing I could do to help. I solemnly took a picture. I hope you take it as proof of my existence up here. But I also hope you take it as evidence for the direness of Australia’s current state.
Betty Swain's Life up Above 