Flash Meridian, traveler through space and time, is back! He has awakened from a 10-year cryogenic deep freeze during his flight back to Planet Earth, and his new adventures are being chronicled by alter ego Tim Young of Grand Marais. His experiences have remarkable similarities to the issues faced by 21st Century Earthlings and can be followed at www.flashmeridian.blogspot.com.
Flash Meridian, space traveler, moves in and out of time. He wanders the universe, pondering its mysteries. He picks up friends along the way and they float along together sharing what they are not certain is reality or dream.
As a boy, Flash Meridian lived with his parents on a Michigan farm. A contemplative and creative child, Flash always felt a longing for something he could not find in this world. Something he could not even name.
After being cryogenically frozen for the last 10 years, Flash Meridian has reappeared on earth. His alter ego is Tim Young, Grand Marais artist, college student, justice of the peace, caregiver for the elderly, community volunteer, father. Young discovered Flash when a daydream transported him into outer space in his 1962 Chrysler New Yorker wagon, known in the year 2104 as the Trans-Neptune Interloper (TN1).
Flash is making his reappearance on the web at www.flashmeridian. blogspot.com and on Facebook. Some might describe his saga as an online sci-fi comic strip illustrated by creatively enhanced photos. Making it into outer space
Tim was born on July 20, which, in 1969, was the day the first man walked on the moon. He grew up with dreams of being an astronaut, which came true when his journey merged with that of Flash Meridian:
Our story begins in the year 2104 when Flash Meridian, a pioneer in the field of warp travel, is lost in the outer reaches of our solar system. With greater distances traveled at greater speeds than ever before, it soon becomes apparent that the margin of error is also much greater than it had been previously. As Flash hurtles ever outward from the sun to deep space beyond our solar system, a search and rescue party is formed to bring him home.
How does Flash feel about being out in space, uncertain of whether he will make it home? “He really doesn’t feel at home here on this planet,” Tim says of Flash. In his cryogenic chamber, however, he falls asleep to the sound of human voices on the radio.
He treasured the opportunity he had to see things most people never saw. It’s just that space is very big.
Flash has a guardian angel who meets him in a dream and guides him through his darkest hours. “Who are you?” Flash asked the face, not yet sure whether she was real or whether she could hear him. “My name is HollyGram,” she answered.
“I am the one who has watched over you. You are my charge. When you were in danger, I guided you. When you were alone, I accompanied you. When you were weary, I brought rest. When you were happy, I celebrated.”
Flash wasn’t sure what to think of all this. “Were you here in the TNI before?” Flash asked.
“I have always been here,” she replied.
“You put my ship on course. You brought me safely around Pluto…. What about when I first went off course?”
“You needed the journey,” she said simply.
…Flash switched off his radar, his radio and computer, putting his life in the protective hands of his guardian angel. A sense of peace filled him while all the questions and fears fell away into nothingness.
The constellations Flash now saw fell from her gown, showering his dreams with diamonds. The new adventures
The new adventures of Flash Meridian contain real life messages – about environmental responsibility, caring for animals, encountering the Divine – that apply to all of us, whirling together through the universe on Spaceship Earth.
Earth hung like a glimmering blue ornament against a backdrop of spangled infinity.
The computer screen read the current date, 1-14-2114. Could it be? Had he slept ten years?
…”Welcome back, Flash Meridian,” came the voice through his headset again. “Relax,” it continued, “you are on auto-pilot, and we will bring you in.”
… Like a dream, or the dream of a dream, details eluded him, leaving him to wonder whether he was even now waking or sleeping. In this way, his dream continued to dream him while crews on earth worked around the clock to bring him back.
Flash couldn’t plan the details of his life any more than he could plan his dreams, so it seemed best to just enjoy the journey as it unfolded.
His mind raced on ahead of him into the unknown, but no earthbound human being could predict the future any easier.
…The one thing he knew for sure was that adventure awaited him. The details of that adventure would just have to wait to be seen. The goal
“This is not work for me,” says Tim. “…This is play. It’s like breathing or dreaming. …It comes out naturally. I call it gripping the moving pen.”
What message does Flash Meridian bring? “Dream your dreams,” Tim answers. “We’re all poorer if you don’t.”
Tim believes that reality can often be portrayed most “really” through art. “I believe we all have untold stories within us that no one else can tell,” Tim says, “and for me, that is what makes the universe infinite. The power of our thoughts and imagination give us an endless source of things to say. Things that are uniquely ours to tell. …What you have inside you is different than what I have inside me, and we need to hear it just as much as you need to tell it.
“…You will be criticized along the way. Not everyone likes what I do. Not everyone will like what you do. Not everyone will get what we’re trying to say. So does that mean we shouldn’t say or do it? No!”
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