As is widely known, Neil Armstrong was the first man to step on the moon. More notably, it was a monumental achievement unfettered by boastful conceit and flamboyant antics. Your typical pro football player exhibits far more egocentric silliness after scoring a goal or a touchdown than Armstrong ever indulged. The manner in which he conducted himself on Earth is more worthy of admiration than his exploits on the moon. Imagine the millions, if not tens of millions of dollars, he could have made by peddling underarm deodorants, energy drinks and, needless to say, walking shoes. Instead, Armstrong preferred to “bask in obscurity”. He was too proud of himself as a man to be caricatured as a celebrity. He chose to live his life on a farm in Ohio sharing his hard-earned knowledge and experiences with students at the University of Cincinnati. Beyond that, Armstrong devoted himself to being a good husband to his wife and a good father to his children. Few men ever have or ever will walk on the moon but, we all could do better to walk upon the Earth with the quiet dignity and genuine humility of Neil Armstrong.
Oh hell yes! I agree completely. NASA has a very good record of identifying who has the right stuff to make the list of those who become astronauts. I have known one of them personally for the past 27 years. He was (and is) a superb person, a stand out in any crowd. But Neil Armstrong is still my choice as the one who stands at the top of that short list.
Having been a college professor, I realize the work that he had to do in order to be genuine for his students. And I'm sure he did. Armstrong could have easily been elected president like Eisenhower or served in Congress like John Glenn, but after the flurry of publicity after that amazing adventure, he chose otherwise.
When history is looked at from 200 years from now, the lottery that chose Neil and made him the first human to become an extraterrestrial and put his feet on another planetoid will rank the achievements of NASA and a highly trained Neil Armstrong much higher on the scale of history that he is viewed now, 49 years later, with the inability right now, to go back and much less interest in science and technology.
Reflections and Nature Watercolors is a collection of Margaret's spontaneous positive thoughts in celebrating and reflecting on life and her nature watercolors.
