The first time I truly take in the "blue marble" photograph, I'm very sick. The Earth, like me, hangs suspended in blackness so deep it lacks depth or dimension. I want to reach out and cup Earth like I would cup the back of my niece's small warm skull.

It looks like something made for holding.

(Image credit: Robert Simmon using Suomi NPP VIIRS imagery from NOAA's Environmental Visualization Laboratory.)