rick at the shuttle launch

Rick bought a ticket to see the space shuttle Discovery launch back in November. It didn't launch due to mechanical failure. The second launch date in early January also didn't launch. Initially, he was working in Orlando, so it only cost him a rental car and a day of work to get there. By February when a third and final launch was scheduled, he was home, and now it meant a plane ticket, hotel and cab to the bus shuttle that would take him to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

He vacillated. I encouraged him to go. He bought the plane ticket.

I watched the launch at my desk at work via a web feed on the NASA website, and it was amazing, even on the little fuzzy camera window. Rick called shortly afterward, and his energy was palpable - exhilarated and emotional.

In his own words, here is what he wrote about the launch:

Another Moment of Awe

So...imagine the biggest Roman Candle you could ever see, ascending into the sky with a huge plume beneath it. Then, coming across the water, add a buffeting rolling roar to it...as if shaking a taut sheet, but instead of it making cloth sounds, it's the noise of thunder and a major fireworks show all wrapped together into one.

Add to that huge cheers from an enthusiastic crowd, proud of this tangible expression of some of the very best and finest America is, and can be, and has been for the past 50+ years of her history.

Mix that up in the heart of a little boy now grown and showing gray; a little boy still, who used to watch every Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo launch, and wanted nothing more at 9 years old than to be an astronaut astronomer.

Goosebumps...goosebumps.

Before I booked this trip, in a moment of my doubt over time and further expense involved, my beautiful wife told me to go. "Just go," she said. Thank you, baby. You were with me all the way.

And thanks to every astronaut, and every engineer, every lab tech, every construction worker, every voter and every politician who ever supported NASA and the Space Program.

What a ride, folks...what a ride.

~rick

He's posted photos on a public photo gallery on Facebook so anyone can see them:

« Rick Hoffman's Photos - STS-133

and then school started

The first term of my MFA program began on January 6 with a 10-day residency. The winter residency is always held out on the Oregon coast at Seaside. I adore the coast during the winter, and I was not disappointed. There was surf and sky, rain, sun, and then snow on the beach. What a beautiful place to begin this adventure.

Rick was already working in Orlando, and I found myself telling him every night on the phone that it was amazing. Classes, workshops and readings went all day and I went to bed every night exhausted. And amazed.

One of the highlights for me was to hear Barry Lopez. Not only to listen to him read, but to meet him personally. I have been reading Lopez's work since I was in high school. I had purchased a book to give to my darling husband and was waiting with a couple other students to get it signed, when the hotel staff announced that we had to clear the room. Lopez said, "Follow me." He led us into a smaller room and then sat with us and spent another hour just talking and signing our books. He was so gracious. I was moved, not only by his beautiful message of hope and community, but by his humble and compassionate nature. Truly a great man.

And so it begins. Study hall at the kitchen table for the rest of the term. With tea.

I feel like I have waited my whole life to be here. It feels like a gift. All of it.

Sherri

quick-step the holidays

The holidays were a blur. Rick was home for most of December, gone for a week in California and then home until after the traditional New Year's Hockey game. We had a raucous holiday party at our house with about 40 of our friends and family, including the traditional white elephant hoopla. All the kids were here for Christmas - Nichole, Missy, Becca, James, Chantz, Ryan, Megan and Trey.

We are so blessed to have such a great family and a good home.