#optional reading

CLEVELAND, Ohio—You can be forgiven if you haven’t heard the term “rocket men” before—not outside of golden oldies stations and genre fiction at least. These days, it’s an Ohio term, though the phenomenon stretches across the Midwestern US: In Indiana, they’re calling them Flyboys. In Chicago, Go-Boots. In Missouri, they’re Jayhawks. But no matter what title they’re working under, the phenomenon is the same. Increasingly, blue-collar transport workers and rocket pilots—roles that have been traditionally reserved for space townies out in the starry boonies—are living on Earth, and in this case, in Earth . . . Ohio, that is. 

Ruth Elstar is one of many rocket men who make their home in the small city, which lies almost due south of Cleveland, near Wooster. “I moved here four years ago,” says Elstar. “The city was practically giving away lots in some of the mobile and rocket park areas, and they were saying ‘Hey, Mr. Spaceman, don’t you want a home?’ and, you know, I realized—I did want a home.” For many years, space pilots like Elstar lived without a permanent address, ping-ponging between the small asteroid towns and rest stations along Flight Path 66, from Mercury to Pluto, while her son grew up on Earth with his grandfather. “It was tough. Not everyone recognizes rockets as homes, and you don’t qualify for the longer shift schedules without an address. It’s tough being away from your family. I didn’t want to live in a space town because they’re so small, and I want my son to be able to go to school and make friends and be social.”

When the city of Earth came along with special lot offers in 2153, Elstar quickly purchased a plot in the packed mobile home area they call Luna Park, where most properties are equipped with plenty of space for a personal launch pad. Now, she lives two months at a time in space and two months at home on Earth. When she’s home, she helps her father run errands, makes dinner for her and her son, and catches up with friends. When it’s time to work again, she fires up her iconic Flarestream Travel Rocket and makes the long commute to and from Neptune or Titan. “Then I bop around the outer planets, transporting diapers and things to the more remote stations before I head back home.” Her new schedule has vastly improved her work-life balance and ensures she gets to spend more time with her son. Elstar isn’t the only beneficiary. In the past few years, hundreds of rocket men have turned up to make Earth, Ohio, their new home. From Solar System mail carriers to seasonal space restaurant workers and waitresses to salesmen and even asteroid miners, more and more people are leaving resource-poor space towns to make their homes on solid ground while keeping their careers in the stars—and the city of Earth, historically a pilots’ town, is an ideal location for rocket men’s unusual work schedules and housing needs.

NEW YORK CITY—I asked the rocket pilot while we waited to land if Earth was always like this: fair weather, good visibility—and hundreds of people moving through the sky in hundreds of ways.

“Pretty much,” he told me—and then spit out the pilot-side window with a walloping smack.

So I settled back into my harness and waited for air traffic control to clear the rest of our descent, delayed to my great surprise by all the colorful flight paths and passengers that fluttered and fell from the skies over the city of Earth. There were divers and parachuters in sparkling jumpsuits whizzing past us on their way down; children's bottle rockets peeked over the clouds; a trio of antique planes buzzed on the horizon; and bright red hang gliders drifted below us like kites. The spitting captain must have noticed my concern, for he assured me they'd move out of the way in a minute. 

“I won’t hit ‘em,” he promised—and spit again. 

We were suspended above hundreds of squares and acres of farmland and forest, the roar of the hovering rocket was filling our ears, and I had never seen so many rural and suburban landings and launches in my whole life—so many torpedo-shaped hatchbacks coming up from emerald-green backyards and then heading back down to the shining little city below. Amazing, I thought, albeit sheepishly. I was used to the hustle and bustle of New York City’s hover taxis, rocket elevators, and smoggy skylines; when I accepted this assignment, I imagined myself used to the “country,” too—but I had never seen spaceships nesting down among the trees and picket fences and patios the way they did in the small Midwestern city of Earth, whose sign read: Welcome to Earth… Where we just can’t keep our feet on the ground! 

So I haven’t been around for a bit. Because I had a bit of surgery and a two-day recovery vacation at my parents’ place which was lovely and very much needed and then I returned to the house where I live with my roommate and it turned out while I was away she had come back from vacation and had kind of a downward spiral of worsening anxiety which causes me anxiety and our best friend has been the lovely prince charming - with a bad back because he slipped on some icy steps not two weeks ago - trying to let me recover and take care of her so she can get better and wow my life has just been a bit of a mess but it’s looking up today I think

My brain is so full I just can’t. Here, let’s look at my puppy. She used to be so little!

Also, cute story: My mom babysits children for a living and the one little boy is two years old but he’s so smart and knows his whole alphabet and he kept asking me to build lego towers and robots with him all day. The day after I left, he showed up at my parents’ place, went to the loveseat and saw I wasn’t there and said, “Melissa disappeared?” and my brother said, “no, she just went home” but he just said again,

“Melissa disappeared.”