Looking at rockets across the water

Where we leave the planet
Cocoa Beach, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If you stand on Florida's Cocoa Beach and turn to your left, way across the water you'll see Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. They build and fly rockets there, and if you look just closely enough, you can see all sorts of fascinating pieces of infrastructure. This is where rocket science comes to life.

It's so far away that even the longest lens can't do enough to pull it in. Add atmospheric distortion into the mix and you're probably not bringing home museum-worthy photography.

But that's not the point. The very place where I stand as I take this photo is also a popular viewing spot for major launches. On this morning just after sunrise, the beach may very well be nearly deserted as the cool sand slowly works its way between my toes, but it's easy to imagine what it would feel like if thousands of people converged here, all looking to their left, all waiting for something to happen.

And as I peer through the lens at the otherworldly sight way across the water, I tell myself I need to return here when this place is crowded, hot, and electric.

Because even if the event involves little more than watching a blurry dot rise from the horizon, there's nothing quite like feeling it with the wind in your face, surrounded by thousands of others who feel the same need to watch our hopes and dreams leave the planet and head for the heavens.

Sometimes you just have to be right there to witness it.

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