Sunday night, while most of the country was sleeping, a major event in human history happened live for the world to see. The rover, Curiosity, landed on Mars for an expedition that will last two years and will include the NASA-controlled vehicle traveling great distances on the surface of our neighboring planet.

The amazing thing about Sunday night is that the world could watch live as the spacecraft tumbled to a safe landing on the surface of another planet as it happened.

On the other hand, viewers in America are forced to watch the Olympics on a tape delay and often have the victories spoiled by social media, which has no sense of time difference. Technology has allowed us to simultaneously land on Mars and tweet about it around the world. In fact, the rover itself has a Twitter account, @MarsCuriosity.

In a time of non-stop news and information, I am afraid that we as a people are losing the ability to stop and admire something…anything. If we are not awestruck by the ability of man to take HD video of the surface of Mars then what will it take to amaze us?

A favorite quote of mine speaks about “appreciating the beautiful.” I think this applies to allowing oneself to take a moment to step away from the phone, look at the world around you and take it all in. There is beauty in everything from a simple act of kindness, the power of the Mississippi River or the ugly, rocky surface of another planet.

While we hear of so many horrific acts of human brutality and evil, we must always remember to appreciate the beautiful, or we’ll get lost in the despair of the evil potential of humanity. However, while some terrible members of society take life from innocent bystanders, there are also those who sacrifice their lives to save others, give their entire fortunes and careers to vital medical research or paint works of art admired centuries later.

So today, be awestruck by an Olympian, smile like a kid as you look at pictures of Mars, and stop and acknowledge a work of art because these instances of human achievement are some of the only reasons we have to hope for a better tomorrow.

The last bite…

This weekend I ate at Golden Corral. The food was mediocre, the atmosphere was alright, and the service wasn’t bad for a buffet. However, I did enjoy the warm rolls with honey butter, the cotton candy and the chocolate fountain. I give the Golden Corral buffet 2.5 out of 5 crumbs!

Buddy Boe, a resident of Garyville, owns a public relations and program management company and is well known on the local political (and food) scenes. His column appears Wednesdays in L’Observateur.