building the bomb

If it wasn't obvious by how little I wrote, yesterday was a very slow day for me. Besides getting groceries most of the day was spent on the phone with a travel agent, then checking online what he had told me and downloading songs. None of that was really worth mentioning, nor was it that exciting. There wasn't even that much television watching besides the Spielberg series Taken and then much later in the day ER. Most of the day was calm, quiet and warm inside away from the cold. I didn't really need much else and I also knew that it was going to end in a couple of days. Work is looming on the horizon.

I had briefly thought about listing the songs that I put onto a disc, but changed my mind. It wouldn't have meant that much except to me and even I wasn't sure why I picked the songs that I did.

...

I didn't even have to leave my house to get my mail. The doorbell rang and leaning against the door was a package of reading material that carried me through the afternoon. Outside is was another cold blue sky day filled wind, but I was untouchable on my couch secure under blankets half awake reading. For me it was a good way to spend a Friday afternoon in January.

...

At first I was a little reluctant to leave my place to see the play tonight, but I'm glad that I did. It was something that I needed to do and the ride there was just as enjoyable as the play.

Stepping outside I was pleased to feel that it wasn't as cold as I imagined. Then as I walked to the garage I took a look at the sky as I always do and saw Orion and an almost full moon sharing the sky. It was a great winter image and I wished that I could look a little longer, but I needed to get going to the play.

Soon I was on the highway joining cars heading east. It felt good to be driving. Yesterday I'd only driven to the grocery store and back. Not enough time to get the car fully warmed up or experience the road.

There had been a family dinner tonight, but I was exempt because of the play. Not to offend my dad's side of the family, but I think that I made the right choice. Besides I'll see them next month at another dinner.

The Milwaukee Rep seems to be following a theme with their productions. Once again the play had a scientific base to it. Instead of math, this time it was physics. With only three characters, the play dramatizes the historic meeting between Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg during World War II and what they may have discussed at the time.

All of this was new to me and the play did explore a number of moral questions. These men did have crucial roles in the development of the atomic bomb and today we just accept that it is a part of our world. Both of them existed before that reality came into being. Now we can't go back and can only read what Oppenheimer said when they tested the first atomic bomb.

"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, the Shatterer of Worlds."

I've always wanted to read a biography of Oppenheimer and a book about The Manhattan Project, but I never seem to get around to it. Maybe I should take care of that before I go on my trip.

 
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