out of infancy.

"Yes, it could be considered 'relatively tiny' compared to the ocean. And Earth could be considered 'relatively tiny' when compared to Jupiter. But Earth and it's oceans are still home, and we still need them both. There is a profound disconnect happening here. "

~ comment on the Huffington Post article about BP's CEO Tony Hayward's remark that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is "relatively tiny" compared to the "very big ocean"

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Hayward's remark made me sad. Very sad. I am not really sure how else to react at the moment. But I liked the quote whoever it was wrote. It reminded me of Sagan. Of Pale Blue Dot where he starts off writing ~

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us.

Reminded me of how yes Earth is our only home. Of how yes we forget how tiny and fragile we are. Sagan spent years fighting NASA to get them to turn the cameras on Voyager 1 back towards Earth after it had left the solar system to remind us of this. To inspire us. To convince us to take care of it. To cherish it.

We humans have taken trillions of photos over the years on glass plates and pieces of plastic smothered in silver halide and on thin pieces of charged silicone. Photos from wars. Photos of babies being born. Photos of the insides of ourselves. Photos of atoms. Of mountains. Of profound pain. Triumphs. Other worlds. Of nebulas and quasars billions of light years away. Of people laughing. Crying. Dying.

But of the trillions of pictures taken over the last hundred or so years there is one generally considered to be the most influential photo of all time (this can perhaps be debated now since Hubble captured the Ultra Deep Field image in 2003 but up until then ... ). Taken by Apollo 8 crewmember Bill Anders on December 24, 1968 while in orbit around the Moon it is referred to simply as Earthrise.

It is a picture taken - closer than Pale Blue Dot - of home. Our only home. The one we've been entrusted with to take care of. Cherish. From that distant vantage point in orbit rising above the lunar surface can be seen the western edge of Africa. Antarctica. The Atlantic Ocean. The atmosphere. Blue and green. Beauty beyond description. Beyond anything I can think or feel or say.

And yes. It is tiny. We are tiny. Tony Hayward is tiny. But when - when will we grow up out of our infancy?