Above: A beautiful sight from this day in 2005, the aurora australis as photographed by NASA's IMAGE satellite. This was happening whilst we in the United States remembered the tragedy that befell us 4 years prior in 2001 when a number of Islamic extremists decided that jumbo-jets made great guided missiles. It is important to remember these terrible occasions, but it is equally important that we realize how infinitely small we are in comparison to the rest of the solar system, and the universe as a whole.
As random as it may seem, I think today I am most thankful for the fact that the Earth has a reasonably strong magnetic field, for without it, on occasions such as September 11, 2005 when the Earth was struck by the awesome power of our own sun, we might not have been permitted the luxury of being so self-absorbed as to believe that the day was only significant because of terrorism.
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