Galileo's Latte

There is a saying, "Don't forget to show kindness to strangers, you may find out that they are angels in disguise..". Or maybe it was, don't be rude to the guy in line with you, he may be Galileo. Or Mother Theresa. Now celebs get plenty of air time, you know, like Jack Black. Don't get me wrong, he cracks me up. But down in the dust where we all live, how do we treat the shmuck next to us. What if we knew he/she had infinite potential? Do we regard one another as treasures?

Those that survived the chaos of life had help. Sometimes a kind word turns history. Joan Osborne sang, "What if God were one of us? Just a slob like one of us/ Just a stranger on the bus/Trying to make his way home..."

In Leo Tolstoy's short story, What Men Live By, a shoemaker facing starvation is confronted by someone worse off than himself.

These photos were taken by a friend of mine, Mark Chidester. He is an Earthwalker, poet, story teller, song writer, singer, writer, photographer, artist, giver. I've known him for almost twenty years, and he is a dear friend. Among his many mysterious talents, he can fix any car. In the dark, blindfolded.
He hates doing it, but he is a car whisperer.

I won't tell you how he took these stunning photos. But here is a hint: they are pictures of the moon.

Mark has traveled the world, fished for salmon in Alaska, worked with the Amish, sang on street corners, worked as a barista, saved my arse on many occasions, and his story will one day be a best seller.



Great spirits often have disguises. Let's give each other the benefit of the doubt. What would Galileo order? Double tall latte, organic milk, and some of those sprinkles, the ones that look like the moons of Jupiter..







Thanks Mark, for these remarkable images.