A Dry Farmer isn't technologically savvy. He enjoys technology...and science. But it would be a mistake to say he was "capable with technology". The difference may not seem significant, and I'm not sure I have words to even describe the difference. But there is a difference. It is more like playing with technology and science than using them. For example, the Dry Farmer would enjoy reading, fantasizing, viewing, and talking about astronomical events and facts. But he would not be involved in its systematic study or understanding.The other day I was reading about aerobraking, a method of slowing a spacecraft as it approaches a planet to allow the planet's gravity to capture and hold the spacecraft, either to establish a stable orbit or to land on the planet's surface. This method slows the spacecraft down by carefully planning the interaction between the spacecraft and the planet's atmosphere. The atmosphere acts as a brake...slowing down the spacecraft without using a lot of fuel.
But it is, according to what I read, a risky process. Since the atmosphere is gaseous, it's density and height above the planet can vary considerably. And then, there is the angle the spacecraft "brushes" against the atmosphere, if the angle is too shallow, the spacecraft will "skip" off the atmosphere like a flat rock skipping across a pond's surface. If the angle is too steep, the spacecraft may plunge directly into the atmosphere and burn-up. I can't imagine the mathematics and engineering to get it EXACTLY right...but then, I'm a Dry Farmer, so I can enjoy reading about the method without worrying about the science.
But, I've wandered. Today I thought I would talk about a specific childhood memory. One that I've remembered for close to 45 years. And I wonder, why would I remember this specific memory? It must have some significance.
When I was young, we visited with my grandparents (on my father's side) on a regular basis. Living a few hours away by car, we visited often. Many of my father's siblings and their spouses lived nearby so visiting with my cousins was a common event. Once when I was traveling with a cousin of similar age, he offered me a stick of gum. A stick of gum. I liked gum; I liked candy; and as children we were not given strict prohibitions against either.
But something happened at that particular instant. I wanted the gum...but I said no thanks. My cousin knew me well enough to know that my response was not right...but I maintained my decision to not have any gum.
Why did I do that?
I'm not sure. I don't think Dry Farmers understand all the reasons for why things are the way they are. Now, they may not know why, but they will tell you many stories for why they think it is so...
I thought it was because I was able to control my emotions. I wanted the gum, but I turned it down. For years I believed it was a pivotal moment...a moment when I achieved a higher level of maturity. When I could 'put away' what I wanted merely by making up my mind to turn it down...even though it was what I wanted.
.
.
.
Now, 45 years later, I'm not so sure. Now I wonder if that moment wasn't really one of loss...a moment when the childhood innocence of speaking how I felt, without any censure, was lost. The moment I discovered speaking something other than what I felt.
There is meaning in that moment. I've remembered it through all these years. It is a very vivid memory. It marked a boundary between two states. What course did I follow in my life because of that discovery and its subsequent use? What if I had just brushed that moment; if the discovery had not happened...if I had continued to speak how I felt? I'll never know. But the memory of the moment brings the question to mind frequently.
And of course, the Dry Farmer always wonders.
