The Wights of Mars

This afternoon Lorrie and I went to a concert of the California Symphony in Walnut Creek to hear Holst’s THE PLANETS. They had decided to make the opening concert special by having a video by the Adler Planetarium in Chicago that showed a montage astronomical and historical footage about each of the planets as each section was played– cool pictures from Voyager, etc. The video was excellent, and so was the music, although since Holst was interpreting the astrological meaning of each planet, not its astronomical characteristics, the match was not always as good as it might be. Venus in particular was problematic, as the actual planet is hot and volcanic rather than the cool, peaceful place the music portrays. But the Mars section, with lots of footage from the Mars Rover, was pretty neat. Especially the part with the Martian Dust Devils that come whirling along and clean the dust off the Rover’s solar panels.

Lorrie and I both immediately thought of the time someone asked one of our seeresses (I don’t want to Out you, but when you see this, feel free to claim the credit) whether there was life on Mars. After she had made herself an air bubble so she could travel, her first words were, “Of course there are wights on Mars!” Though not the flesh and blood kind he was asking about.

And there they were, the Martian wind-wights, whirling across the sand….