From Autumn to a new Spring. A few autumn colours recently appearing are a reminder that my plan of wearing sandals and shorts until November might need some reconsideration. Dare I suggest that continuous planning seems to be here to stay? At least this seems to be the requirement for our discipline. No sooner has the ink dried on the Mid-Term Review (MTR) than we are presented with new opportunities. Perhaps it is a natural cycle. If the Long Range Plan (LRP) bore the promise of spring and began the summer growth, and the MTR presages some bountiful harvest, what follows next? Would it be too complacent to assume that “whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should”? Probably, but staying on the cautious-optimism side of “Now is the winter of our discontent” might “keep peace in your soul.” And we are being ‘fast-forwarded’ to make preparations for a new spring. Yes, perhaps it is a natural cycle. It certainly seems to be catching on everywhere -- there is a new Fours Seasons Centre in Toronto and they have a catchy feature called the Ring Cycle. Maybe we’re riding a wave...
The Long and Short of It. How long is the “Long” in the LRP? Empirically, it seems about a decade. So maybe the next version “LRP2” for the second decade of this millennium could be dubbed the “Decadal Visionary Plan 2” (taking the high road, “DVP” already being sunk in concrete). Work on the DVP2 needs to begin now; think of this as the shoulder season. Das Dongold.
Plan to be in Space (or at least at the CSA). The CASCA Board is keen that the Canadian Space Astronomy Workshop (CSAW – www.space.gc.ca/CSAW), to be held at CSA headquarters in St. Hubert on 23-24 November, be well attended. The CSAW, aptly subtitled “Creating Ideas for the Next Decade,” is being organized by the CSA in close collaboration with CASCA’s out-of-this-world committee, the JCSA. The context includes the happy situation that many major projects from this decade are well in hand, even though the launches of Herschel/Planck (2008) and JWST (2012) might seem far away. Looking at the almanac, there is nothing planned beyond this horizon. Although we are only about at mid decade, space astronomy can have particularly long lead times, and so it is appropriate to plant the seeds now. CSAW is therefore a top planning priority for CASCA, a “town hall” meeting that one might later reflect has kicked off the DVP2. Create some new ideas. Be optimistic. The Board members will be certainly be there at the CSAW and we urge as many of you as possible to be there too. Especially the young ones who will reap the harvest of this investment.