dancinguniverse | The amber waved electrons spin in planetary transits round the ones they're bound to.

Finished another problem set, got another perfect score back on last week's assignment. Then I found out that we found the first Earth-like planet that is capable of hosting water. That is such an amazing development I can't even tell you. But I will, if you would like me to expound upon the subject. You can also go here for the scientific version of the story.

Last night, I drove an hour and a half to go have dinner and hang out with one of my high school history teachers. She is an amazing lady, and a huge influence on me. I think she was the first teacher I was in awe of, for being not just well educated, but broadly educated, and thoughtful, and just an incredible human being.

Heading up, there was a small part of me that worried that I had idolized her, that meeting her again, five years later, she would seem smaller. She's an old lady, and very Catholic - an ex-nun, in fact - and I worried that somehow we wouldn't get along as we had in high school.

Wow.

I got to her house at four pm (Karen came with me) and we didn't leave until almost one in the morning. It was amazing. We talked about everything, about sports and movies and books and history and faith and caught up on each other and all of our mutual friends from high school. I really enjoyed my time there. I don't remember her being so talkative in high school, but I don't think she sees many people these days. She has lupus, and she can't really go out anymore these days. I'd imagine when you spend most days alone in your house, you'd definitely talk the ear off of visitors, especially since she seems to genuinely enjoy Karen and I as much as we enjoyed seeing her.

She's still such an amazing lady. She's just as sharp as I remembered, and maybe even kinder, and just so... she embodies all the things I loved about Catholicism. I don't know how to explain it, though we talked about it last night. But she and all of the people like her who raised me are why I was delighted to be Catholic for so long. I would go back in a heartbeat if my Catholic family ran the Church. I talked to her back when I first left the Church, and she encouraged me to stay, since my troubles were political, not faith based. But even then, and again last night, she supported my decision, saying that no priest she could respect would tell me my reasoning was faulty, or blame me for my problems. That meant so much to me, and it still does. I go back to my grandfather, who couldn't understand why I didn't go to Mass anymore. "When I'm having troubles in life, going to church makes me feel better," he told me. All I could tell him was that it didn't, for me. That, in fact, it sometimes made me feel worse. And my teacher got that. It almost surprised me, how much her support still means to me, after all this time.

She's also funny, and did I mention smart? She's the kind of person who seems to know something about everything, but never in a way that seems snobby or fake. She's just that cool. It was a great reunion.

Now, I am listening to the rain come down while my cat sits on my chest, kneads my shoulder, and purrs.

It is a good day.