Illustration by Lars Leetaru
I’ve been collecting amazing images of deep space lately, though I’m not sure why. It’s a long-running rabbit hole I’m exploring, from crazy Hubble telescope photos to those viral (and apparently fake) night skies on Mars. I’ve even been watching a bunch of Neil deGrasse Tyson videos, too.
I’m fascinated by how vast and jam-packed the sections of space are in these images. So many stars, galaxies, and dust formations. And so many thoughts about how insignificant Earth is in the scope of it all, how tiny we are in the universe—one grain of sand on all the world’s beaches put together.
How did this rock orbiting an ordinary sun in an ordinary galaxy produce everything wonderful in our lives? And how did the planet go millions of years before the right combination of minerals and molecules created a strain of life that would evolve into humans?
Most of us will spend about 75 to 100 years on Earth, a tiny fraction of its existence before us and (hopefully) of its lifespan into the future. I’m sure there’s a form of math that can calculate the minuscule percentage of our lives within the vast time and space the universe occupies, but I don’t want to know the number. I already feel pretty unnecessary.
Another feeling I derive from this recent hobby of mine is more positive: humility. It’s an underrated quality, I think. And this month’s ancient history package gives off the same vibes of remaining humble about what we’ve built as a people and a society.
Local history is usually told as starting in 1788 with the first Americans arriving via the Ohio River, followed by waves of Germans and Europeans in the 1800s and Black Southerners and white Appalachians in the 1900s, culminating in the modern, bustling, multi-cultural city we love today. The truth is we’re simply stewards of land that was occupied by Indigenous people, wildlife, dinosaurs, and trilobites long before we appeared.
Cincinnati has come a long way, for better or worse. Let us humbly remember and honor those who called this place home before us.
