On May 25, 1961 President Kennedy challenged our Nation to land on the Moon and safely return before the end of the decade.  Eight years later, on July 20, 1969 we did just that.  The Lunar Module touched down on the Moon as Neil Armstrong spoke the words:  “Tranquility Base Here, The Eagle Has Landed.”  At that breath-taking moment, and as the Columbia Command Module orbited the Moon, the Earth changed. 

America was spell-bound as we waited for the next daring move…from the ladder of the Lunar Landing Module, Neil Armstrong reached human foot toward the unearthly surface of the Moon.  As Armstrong made first contact with a celestial body, his voice reverberated through time:  “That’s One Small Step For A Man, One Giant Leap For Mankind.”

For those of us who witnessed these Epic events unfold, there simply are no words that can express the tranformation that our collective minds experienced.  This is a true heroic tale of astronomical proportions.  The faith in our country and our future, in a single moment, took a quantum leap.  Everything was possible and nothing could stop us.  The Astronauts confirmed in our souls that our potential was unlimited.

What happened?  That was forty years ago.  Yes, there have been vast innovations and technological progess.  But where is the faith and the spirit?  Where are the Heroic Leaders who will push the boundaries of our perceived limitations and take us on the next Epic Journey beyond imagination?  Are they to be found on Capital Hill or Pennsylvannia Avenue?  I know; we can only frown, grimmace or laugh at the thought.  Then I ask:  “what’s up with you and me?”  Why do we settle for mediocrity in this country?  Will the Eagle ever fly again?

Let’s use this moment to reflect and reawaken our unstoppable spirit, and let’s make that collective transformation once again.

Just Imagine…

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (IZ) was such a person.  He left us at the young age of 38 in 1997.  Yet he left behind a rare artistic vision to inspire us to dream again.  His art was his voice and his unique style of Hawaiian folk and jazz. Sometimes IZ would take a simple pop tune, work it with his vocal and ukulele magic, and transform the arrangement into an unforgettable moment. 

IZ Lives!  Watch and Listen closely and you just might perceive the spark of his amazing dream: 

A TEENAGE girl in the Northern Territory woke when a snake that had slithered into her bed and wrapped itself around her neck bit her on the arm.

Ashlee Findlay, 16, who is afraid of snakes, spiders and centipedes, spent two hours at a hospital after the attack.

The receptionist said she would be haunted by the incident.

“Everyone was a bit freaked,” she said.

Ms Findlay woke up in her Howard Springs home early on Thursday morning when the snake bit her.

“I thought it was a huge spider or something. I hate spiders. But a few seconds later, I felt something moving past my neck,” she said. “I turned on my light to see this huge slithering snake on my pillow.”

Ms Findlay said she had been asleep since early in the evening and feared the snake could have been in her room the whole time.

“I started screaming and woke everyone one. They didn’t believe me and told me to go back to bed,” she said.

“I was in shock more than anything else”.

Brother-in-law Shane Cordes tracked down the snake and whacked it on the head with part of a door frame, almost decapitating the creature.

Ashlee’s mother, Kim Findlay, a remote area nurse, started treating the bite before driving her daughter and the snake to Royal Darwin Hospital.

“I knew they needed to identify the snake, but I didn’t want to touch it,” she said.

“I gave the doctor my car keys and said, ‘it’s in the boot, you can get it’.”

Professor Bart Currie was called out to the hospital and identified the attacker as a slaty-grey snake, which is not venomous.

He said the snake likely mistook Ms Findlay’s arm for a piece of food.

It is the fifth case reported at Royal Darwin Hospital in 18 years where a victim has woken in the middle of the night to find a large snake “chewing on an extremity”.

“You could call these overambitious feeding attempts,” he said.