The Earth, then and now.

... as drawn by the younger Free-Ride offspring.

The Earth as described in 2006:

i-8b97da9de98881ea8b56bab00664d763-YOearthAnnotated.jpg

The moon was going through its phases, the meteor catcher was catching meteors, and the ozone layer, while holey, was still there.

The Earth as described in 2009:

i-f0dd0f1bcfae72087ec8477d74159f5b-SmallV2AnnotatedEarth.jpg

The meteor catcher appears to have been replaced by a large satellite dish. Maybe we have better options with which to handle falling meteors now. (Or maybe we've just prioritized telecommunications.)

Just past the asteroid belt, Mars seems in a very close approach to Earth (possibly because the Mars Rover would appears to be back on Earth -- for repairs?).

The moon's still there. Volcanos are still erupting. Giant palm trees are still visible from space.

But where the hell is the ozone layer?

2009 may be a good year to invest in sunscreen.

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"... the ozone layer, while holey ..."

i saw that as the "zone" where all the O's live. hey, i laughed

My first thought was that Younger Offspring still has not bowed to the convention of North being up on maps. Either that or we're in for a very topsy-turvy ride this year.

Wow, your kids know the Big Whack theory, now that is progressive education! Did they learn astrophysix in a California public school?