“Uranus is a dark, scary, gaseous planet.” C.O. Hanson

Other than the “scary” adjective, those are the facts.

A good friend of mine just had their annual colonoscopy.  Another good friend of mine teaches middle school. Those are also facts.  Which is worse?  It’s debatable.  This is clearly a compare and contrast or chicken and egg situation.

My close friend teaching middle school Science has the unique opportunity to discuss our galaxy annually to a group of students who are more intrigued with Uranus than any other planet.  Many years ago, when I did my time, or penance, as a middle school teacher, a young man coined the phrase, “What happens in Uranus, stays in Uranus”.  Science teachers were introducing a unit requiring students to create travel brochures for planets, and this young man came up with the best planet catch phrase in the Milky Way.

After the student submitted his brochure to his Science teacher, the teacher immediately walked down the hallway, brochure in hand, to the English teaching wing of the school.  It was his first year at the school, and he was asking me, of all people, for my advice as to whether this was appropriate and what type of grade the student should receive.  I responded with laughter, and further believed the student should receive an A+ for creativity.

A few years back, I retired from teaching middle school, but my friend remains in this dark, scary, gaseous planet.  And, annually, he must properly describe the difference between “Your Anus” and “Uranus” before conducting his solar system unit.