Fly Me To The Moon

Work vacations can be spent traveling, caretaking, organizing, or shopping. Today, however, a new contender entered the chat—space research. Not casually dabbling, mind you. Full-on, coffee-fueled, note-taking, multi-screen, “Houston, I have questions” level research.

I’ve always been fascinated by NASA and our journeys beyond what we can see from the driveway. Anne and John fed that curiosity early with trips to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where I probably read every placard twice and asked at least one question too many. Back in the pre-Google era, I relied on my trusty Encyclopedia Britannica and whatever library book I could get my hands on. If it had planets in it, I was all in. I was scared to fly there but it just always drew me in.

Fast forward to this morning. Post-gym, coffee in hand, to-do list pretending to matter—I stumbled across the news that Netflix would be streaming live coverage of Artemis mission as it looped around the far side of the moon. A casual 1 PM commitment, I thought. I’d watch a little, learn a little, and move on with my productive day.

Cue the laugh track.

I squeezed in errands, got the Jeep washed (because priorities), and made it home just in time for what quickly became “Kiki’s Space Watch 2026.” At first, I folded laundry while half-paying attention. Thirty minutes later, the laundry was folded—but so was I—completely wrapped up in orbit patterns, mission timelines, and commentary from Houston. Not one screen, not two, but multiple tablets going at once like I was preparing for a final exam I never signed up for.

Three hours later—imagine the SpongeBob narrator voice here—I was still locked in. I went down the rabbit hole of lunar orbit, Earth’s orbit, tidal lock, and the misunderstood “dark side” of the moon (which, spoiler alert, isn’t actually dark—just fashionably late to the sunlight party). Every answer led to five more questions, and I happily chased every single one.

My brain absorbed more information today than it has in weeks—which is saying something considering its current “please hold” status lately. But there was something about this…something bigger than checking boxes on a to-do list. The universe has a way of humbling you while simultaneously lighting a fire in your curiosity.

Somewhere between folding towels and falling headfirst into lunar science, I was reminded of something simple but powerful—wonder is always available to us. It doesn’t require a plane ticket or a perfect plan. Sometimes it just takes pressing “play,” asking one question, and letting yourself be pulled into something bigger than your day. And if a random Monday can turn into a deep dive around the far side of the moon, then maybe—just maybe—we’re never really stuck…we’re just one curiosity away from liftoff. 🚀

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Author: KikiFikar

Kiki Fikar is a native New Yorker who is passionate about taking the day to day life we all experience and sharing it in her tales from Suburbia. She will often be found at the gym, writing snippets each day for future story lines, listening to her two children create their lives, and building the perfect beachfront home and writing retreat in her mind.

19 thoughts on “Fly Me To The Moon”

  3. “…then maybe—just maybe—we’re never really stuck…we’re just one curiosity away from liftoff.” Oh beam up Scottie. Or is it, “may the force be with you Obi Wan.” Whatever the phrase, love the curiosity and search for truth. Cool stuff. And, an even cooler way to spend a Monday. Love it.

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  5. Thank you my friend! It was a great afternoon indeed! It’s so funny because I have no patience to fly there physically but the science of it all is incredibly interesting!

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  9. Great stuff… and it sparked a memory in me I had almost forgot about… I was on airplane once… I was flying out of Sarasota… to Charlotte then onto Canton OH… but anyways… pilot comes over speaker and says “If you look out the window to the east.. they currently testing rockets at NASA” so I looked out and saw it… was so cool… and when I lived in Leesburg FL… would often see then testing stuff on the far horizon

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  10. OK… so look… we seem to have a LOT in common… but after this… were we twins separated at birth? 😂

    LOVE the whole NASA thing… always been an astronomy buff, have three scopes…and I’ve been watching this whole thing with fascination. So very cool, hope we get a moon base built and people on Mars in my lifetime. The first step toward JTK and Warp 3 😂❤️

    Plus… the jeep… me too… love it, very willing to run errands just for the fun of driving it around, shifting gears, doing the ✌️ thing and leaving ducks 😎🏄🏻‍♂️

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  14. I knew we were connected!! Knew it!!!

    I’ll tell you I just have so many questions. I won’t bore you with them but just how the planets were formed. Why did earth thrive with human life..yatta yatta yatta. Anyhoo I’m just thrilled NASA is still alive and kicking.

    Jeep brotherhood! Just love everything about them. Jeep saved my life in the accident so now I’ll ride out my days (no pun intended) in a Jeep product.

    Have the best day! 😊

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  18. I was reading and laughing, then I read 30 minutes folding clothes and thought, “Man, that’s a lot of clothes!” 😂 You’re so right about curiosity, it will take you places, mostly good ones. I saw the launch, but believe it or not, space never really caught my attention, even though I did model rocketing as a kid.

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