DD 2/25/03 A VERY BRIEF STORY BY MAYER

Tomorrow is my birthday; I will be spending it in a Rochester hospital supporting my mom, who is having surgery this afternoon. So today's "daily dose" is the birthday card I wrote to myself last night...
Mayer
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BIRTHDAY PUZZLE
I’d like to share some very odd information. Before rejecting this unlikely story out of hand, at least stay open to the possibility that it might be true.
I’ve recently learned of an amazing, impossible-seeming place. Not only that: I’ve actually met some people who have been there. Apparently, there is, in our very own galaxy, a star that came into being in such a way that it threw off chunks of itself that coalesced into planets, orbiting it at various distances. Some were crumbled or exploded by the enormous energies buffeting them; others were thrown free of the star’s pull; and several went into stable orbits around the star. Each developed its own sustained relationship to the star.
One particular planet was so placed that it developed a skin of gas and vapor, cooling, very slowly, over millions of years, condensing into water, freezing into ice, constantly in motion and yet stable, rhythmic, rushing, flowing… singing. This planet circled the star, and with each revolution the rhythm became more familiar, more of a story known to itself, a ritual re-enacted: each time the same, each time different.
As time went on, smaller bits of the pattern began re-enacting themselves. Like the planet, they too were constantly moving, singing, creating rhythms that echoed and amplified each other, always changing, always the same.
Even better, some of these things are actually alive – they grow, reproduce, die, decay – always changing, always being themselves. Of those living things, some are like nothing you have ever seen before, and others might seem like you’ve always known them.
This place is the source of opulent variety: more environments, landscapes, living things, quirky relationships, improbable vistas and breath-taking juxtapositions than could ever be known or even dreamed of…
Here’s the thing: you can go to this unimaginable place; more than that, it waits to bid you welcome. I know that seems incredible, but it’s true. To make the journey, you need only answer one question: _______________________________________?