Evie and the universe

We never really grasp the nature of the infinite cosmos, not even the smartest of us, but that doesn't mean we should ever stop trying.

I can't remember when I got my head around the concept of the universe, and got an idea of how tiny we are, in the massive depths of both space and time. It was definitely early on, and I was having weird existential dreams about falling through the universe with the Mutoids from Blake's 7 at a very young age.

So it's such a fascinating thing seeing how the three-year-old is grasping with the idea. Her pre-school class went to the local planetarium thing and she had such a good time, and won't let it go. Although I had little to do with it, I am very happy to have a space kid.

I don't want to push her in any directions she can't find herself, but holy shit, I love having a kid who snuggles up to you to tell you how much she loves solar winds, and knows the difference between orbital and radio telescopes. She can easily name all the planets - Pluto still very much counts - and knows more of the dwarf planets than I do.

It's just super cool to watch a brain get around how big everything really is. She is still not there, there is still some major comprehension leaps to come - she knows what a quasar looks like, but she's still not sure how much it means. We watches documentaries about the solar system with Brian Cox and loves the other-worldly geysers and dense atmospheres they show us.

I'm also not sure how much some of the science fiction she is already consuming is helping, and I think Star Wars may have given her unrealistic ideas about interplanetary travel, but when she tells us she wants to go to Mars, I can only think: sure, why not? She's going to live into the 22nd century, Mars seems possible. Hope is always better than despair.

I can only hope the universe loves her as much as she loves it.