Whenever I make an entry in this diary I usually have some thought and just start typing. I read my diary from start to finish tonight, and It seemed a little disjointed. I have never kept a diary before this and am not sure what to do with it.

Being a public diary makes it seem strange to me. Sometimes I write to myself. Sometimes I write to you. Often it is a little of both. It's not that I have anything of importance to say to the world even if it is important to me.

It's just that I have spent most of my life with so many people to talk to that I was able to speak my mind. For this past couple of years I have really had no one to talk to, and it has hindered my ability to think. It seems I can process my thoughts best when I communicate them to others.

That's one of the reasons I like to teach. It seems the easiest way for me to learn.

What I really meant to write about was junk in my space.

When I was a boy, I remember one night going outside and looking up to find it. It was the first man-made object to orbit the Earth. I think it was called Telstar. It didn't take me too long to find it. There it was travelling across the sky so fast I could actually see it moving like a bright star on a mission. I dreamed of becoming an astronaut and saved all of the newspapers about space flight.

I remember when Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space, closely followed by John Glenn. I followed every flight and knew all their names. I lay on a beach with my best girl listening to the Apollo lander setting down on the moon, and heard the "one small step", fulfilling president Kennedy's vow that we would land a man on the moon before the decade came to an end.

I cried for the families of the Challenger crew as I watched it shatter before their very eyes. I observe the International Space Station live via webcam most every day now, and follow the preparations for the future Mars expeditions. When I was a child, many debated if going to the Moon was even possible. Now many live and see the last mission there as ancient history that occured before they were even born.

Now there are so many pieces of derelict space junk orbiting the earth that the space station takes evasive orbital readjustments on a regular basis. By the way it is now the largest object in the night sky, clearly visible to the naked eye.

I have collected lots of junk in my life space over the years too.

I created a survey so I could learn something about them. Would you please take the time to fill it out for me? You will find it here.