August 12th 2009, 2:00am

This is the supposed peak in intensity of the meteor shower ‘The Perseids,’ I lay on the grass in my back garden with two friends staring up at the night sky waiting to see some shooting stars. The wait is long to see anything however the company helps to keep faith. I lose focus and miss it a few times but finally, a modest stream of light bolts across the dark canvas as the fragments of the meteor burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. As always happens when looking up at the night sky, we lie fascinated by the glowing dots, unfathomable distances away and by the moon, lit up by the sun.
This along with a documentary I saw on the Beeb about the moon landings in the preceding days really revealed to me how much of an achievement it was for man to lay foot on the moon – this large mass previously worshipped as a God by humans, such was its mysterious nature. For a very select group of people that circular button, which we take for granted to grace the night sky, became a vast panorama of undulating hills and mountains. Not only was the literal physical achievement of landing a feat, the fact that human society let such an outlandish idea progress so far is also fascinating. The first moon landing required visionaries to a revelation, political figures with sufficient faith who were also brave enough to present such an absurd idea, pioneers who made it logistically feasible and human beings curious enough to experience the unknown at the risk of their own lives. It is a testament to human potential – that presented with a task, if physically possible, man can do more than ever before to overcome the challenge. This is why the moon landing remains today a symbol of human achievement, and will forever remain an inspiration for scientific progress.
The picture Earth Rise, taken by William Sanders of the Apollo 8 mission in 1968 (see below), the first manned mission to orbit the moon, has been described as the ‘most influential environmental picture ever taken.’ The power of this image comes from the change in perspective from all previous human experience, where the raucous of the world is silenced by the vacuum of space, and the troubles of man are smoothed into a beautiful amalgam in the spherical shape of planet Earth. It is often the case that someone who has been to space becomes obsessive about the matter, one astronaut featured in the BBC documentary had a few hundred paintings which he had completed of astronauts landing on the moon, an almost desperation to share and describe the ineffable. After seeing Earth Rise it is easy to see why this may be the case.
“If somebody’d said before the flight, “Are you going to get carried away looking at the earth from the moon?” I would have said, “No, no way.” But yet when I first looked back at the earth, standing on the moon, I cried.” Alan Shepard

“What was most significant about the lunar voyage was not that man set foot on the Moon but that they set eye on the earth.” Norman Cousins

“To fly in space is to see the reality of Earth, alone. The experience changed my life and my attitude toward life itself. I am one of the lucky ones.” Roberta Bondar

“As I looked down, I saw a large river meandering slowly along for miles, passing from one country to another without stopping. I also saw huge forests, extending along several borders. And I watched the extent of one ocean touch the shores of separate continents. Two words leaped to mind as I looked down on all this: commonality and interdependence. We are one world.” John-David Bartoe

“In outer space you develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch.” Edgar Mitchell

I used to never take showers. Standing up with jets of boiling hot water pounding onto your back; there was something about it that just never appealed to me. In a bath, on the other hand, you could relax, play with toy ships and constantly adjust the temperature depending on your mood. Years ago, the idea of being bored in a bath would have appalled me. In a bath you can listen to music, read, think, whatever. In a shower. Well. There is a reason why all you ever hear people doing in the shower is singing. However, my love affair with baths dwindled somewhat when I realised that showers are just so much more convenient. I mean, you can have your shower in the same time that it takes to run a bath, and have you ever tried to wash your hair in herbal essences water? I wouldn’t reccomend it.

So this morning I decided to try to reignite my love of a good bath by grabbing some herbal essences and popping on the radio. Problems began instantly, I tuned the radio and hopped in the bath. However, I realised once the hard rock started booming that I had mistakenly tuned the radio to X-FM rather than the more mellow Magic FM. Though usually I don’t mind Alice Cooper, there is something about it that just doesn’t suit the bath environment. It’s difficult to relax with “You’re poison running through my Veins” being constantly shouted at you from a tinny radio.

This minor setback wasn’t going to spoil my bathing experience though, and I got up to change the station. Then I remembered. Electricity and water. I sunk back. So I was stuck, and had to make the best of the next tune, some ‘classic indie’ from America. As I tried to relax I felt the water prickle around me. The water was too hot but the bath was too deep to change the temperature. A classic dilemma, but one that I just couldn’t be bothered with. Whereas in the past I might have let a little water out to compensate for the heat, I just got up and had a shower instead. And then the sudden realisation: baths are just boring. They are too much hassle, are impractical and take too long. Having a bath is like reading war and peace. Who needs it in your life?

The world moves so fast sometimes that it seems like everything is changing and you can’t know anything for certain about the future. For a lot of people, this uncertainty can be quite unnerving, and the whole idea of transcience and change is something that we try to ignore as much as possible. However, I was under the impression that though we may try to ignore change, we have to face up to it sometimes, as there is nothing that remains constant in the universe. But I was wrong.

My journey into the land of permanence began on a routine stop to WHSmiths for some pens. I hadn’t been to my local Smiths in years because, well, Paperchase is better. Once I entered the shop it appeared just like any other, the bored woman at the checkout till, the magazines flapping faintly in the breeze of the air conditioning. But as I delved deeper into the shop, I realised something. Everything was the same as it had been 12 years ago when I was taken to get a set of crayons. The paint was still peeling off the grotty displays, the air still smelt stale: the comforting mixture of paper mixed with dust, and the fluorescent lights were still gently humming. Nothing had changed in over a decade, and, more importantly, I am pretty sure no-one had been that far back in the shop since I had, because, let’s face it, Paperchase is better for almost every stationary need.

Whereas when you look at the sky, or a landscape, or into the sea at night, you get a feeling that the world is too big, like you are this tiny insignificant dot, when you enter the back of WHSmith’s you get the feeling that you matter. When you look out of a train window the whole world goes wizzing past and every person you see has their own worries and concerns. The man with a broken down car, the woman who didn’t have time for breakfast. And so you think: how can I ever understand this huge world, the history, the people, the world is just too big and complicated. But in Smiths, mixed with the stained blue carpets is the sense that you don’t need to worry about change or the vastness of the world, because no matter what happens; no matter how much humans pollute the world, no matter how old you get, the back of WHSmiths will remain the same for ever and ever, a place where no-one goes because Paperchase is better, but a place that will always be there for you, no matter what. And all you have to do is pick out your crayons and be content.