This is not the usual column. After the loss of Carrie Fisher yesterday at the age of 60, I thought we needed something uplifting that gives us comfort and hope. I am providing a link to the Vanity Fair obituary for our princess, because it contains Carrie Fisher’s signature humor.

I know for many younger readers Princess Leia was prologue. For me (I’m the same age she was) she was a role model. And as Carrie Fisher courageously shared parts of her life, even the not-so-good parts, with the world, Fisher herself became a role model for me, a model of how to be a funny, brave, honest woman.

I’ll stop talking now.

This is what I wanted to share, courtesy of NASA. The camera is mounted on the European Space Agency’s Module Columbus. I think this is quite long, but it provides a perspective. If possible, watch it in Full Screen mode.

Happy New Year.

Author

  • Marion Deeds

    Marion Deeds, with us since March, 2011, is the author of the fantasy novella ALUMINUM LEAVES. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthologies BEYOND THE STARS, THE WAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, STRANGE CALIFORNIA, and in Podcastle, The Noyo River Review, Daily Science Fiction and Flash Fiction Online. She’s retired from 35 years in county government, and spends some of her free time volunteering at a second-hand bookstore in her home town.