A Mary Poppins Merry-Go-Round

One of my fondest memories is hanging from my arms on the

beams of the merry-go-round at the drive-in  - and now Peter

Pan says he can’t even remember it - I used to love that huge

old carousel and the fact that the dads came down from their

cars to turn it for us kids, and then this memory took on even

 

Greater significance when I learned the solar system is turning

in circles around the Orion arm while moving from side to side

on its axis in Precession cycles every 27 000 years, then I read

that this is a Mary Poppins merry-go-round - not static staying

in one big roundabout - but every revolution takes it to a new

 

Level - while just like the horses on the earth’s carousel, going

up and down, it keeps sailing on; how can Peter Pan forget the

fun we had while turning around on the carousel Friday nights

at the drive-in - playing under the big screen - until it was too

dark to see, then running back to the car to watch the movie?

 

[Precession:     A 27,000 year cycle like the slow wobble of a

spinning top, Earth’s axis of rotation angled 23.5 degrees to

Earth’s orbital plane and the direction of that angle slowly

rotates, making one circle every 27 000 years.]