Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth

Here, in the vastness of the cosmos, sits a solar system.

If we look closely enough, just past Mars and next to the moon,

we can see a small blue planet floating in space.

This is Earth.

Here we are.

Okay. Close your eyes.

I'm holding a baby, I'm not closing my eyes.

Right.

Sorry. Okay. Come in.

Okay.

And watch this.

No way!

Did you make this?

Yes. Yes, I did.

And your mom helped.

It's all so sweet. Really.

We used to be a family of two.

Now look at us.

Are you all right?

It's so much bigger.

What?

The Earth.

It's so much bigger than that,

and a million times more complicated.

If Finn is gonna navigate this planet, he'll need to know, well, everything.

Which means we have to teach him everything we know

and everything we don't know.

But how do we do that?

I don't even know where to start.

Oh, I'm so lost.

All right. Breathe...

and sit down.

Look,

this is new for both of us, but we'll figure it out.

It's like my mom always said, "If you're feeling lost,

just start with what you know, then take it one thing at a time."

Suddenly, I feel like I don't know very much at all.

Come here.

You know at least one thing:

We have a perfect little baby.

Yeah. I guess so.

Why don't you get some sleep. We need a little father-son time.

Okay.

Oh. Hello.

I'm your dad.

We met earlier at the hospital.

Let me give you the tour.

Here we are.

Planet Earth.

Yeah, it's pretty big out there.

Maybe, um-- Maybe let's start with the easy stuff, like this apartment.

It's where you live with me and your mom.

What do you think?

It's nice, isn't it?

And here's where we eat.

Here's where we keep the food cold.

And here's where we keep the food hot.

Yeah.

Someday I'll make breakfast for you with this pan.

Daddy's very good at pancakes.

Here's where we do bath time.

And here's where we'll do bath time when you're older.

Here's where you'll sleep and wake up.

Oh, and dream.

These are called books.

They're wonderful.

You'll wanna come back here when you can read.

I know you can't speak yet,

and I'm sure your head must be filled with questions,

but be patient.

You'll learn how to use words soon enough,

and then you'll use them forever.

Now then, let's see.

Eight planets revolve around the sun.

Saturn's rings are made of dust, rock and ice.

The world's tallest volcano is Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

The octopus is considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates.

The blue whale is the largest animal known to have ever existed.

Polaris is also known as the North Star.

The incandescent lightbulb uses far more...

Finn, turn it off.

What?

Off!

But I wanna see how it works!

What? -What?

I wanna see how--

I wanna see how it works.

Time for breakfast, hon.

Great.

Give it time. You only checked yesterday.

So, this clock is really cool.

There's a spring, and it presses against this--

Incredibly loud alarm clock?

Dad! No, this other thing.

And when the hand reaches the right place, it sets off the spring and--

I think we got it, thanks.

But here's a question for you: Why do we have clocks in the first place?

To tell time.

But why do we have to tell time?

So... so people can...

I don't know.

Because time is precious.

So maybe the better we organize our time into hours, into minutes, into seconds,

the better we can spend our time.

Look, it's great that you want to know how the alarm clock works,

but sometimes you need to step back and wonder why it works.

Try to see the big picture.

How do you both know everything?

Whoa! Earth pancakes?

For Earth Day.

Not too bad at all.

The countries are all in the right places, yes?

Well, I wouldn't chart a course by them or anything.

Did you pack the lunch for the park?

We're going to the park?

For Earth Day, remember?

Isn't the park near The Museum of Everything?

Yeah, I think it is.

Okay.

And yes. Lunch is packed,

and the forecast has changed, so it looks like sunny skies.

Can we have a family meeting?

Yes, we can.

Great.

I propose that we go to The Museum of Everything today.

It's Earth Day, and Earth is part of everything.

So the museum would be perfect.

Plus, there's a rocketry exhibit, which probably has my top five favorite rockets,

and plenty of other space stuff,

like the Milky Way and Sputnik, and, you know, space things.

You know that nobody loves museums more than I do,

but today is Earth Day.

We should be enjoying the planet outside.

And also, the museum gift shop probably has telescopes.

And if I had one, I could see my top five favorite constellations.

Which are Scorpius, Draco--

Buddy, we're going outside.

But the museum is outside.

It's outside this apartment building.

That counts.

No, it doesn't.

That's a clever argument, but no.

But the spaceships...

You can come back to outer space when we get home.

Hello. -Hi.

Morning. -Hi.

Whoa, Sumiko, that's a cool outfit.

Thank you.

And more geographically accurate than your pancakes.

Long story.

So, where are you headed today?

You know, just a little trip to the park.

Us too, but a bit later.

Maybe we'll see you there.

Bye. -Bye-bye.

Bye.

Right then.

Hold up there, Finn.

Look. The Museum of Everything.

Can we go? Please?

Come on now. Not today.

Come on.

There's a lot of fresh air out there we need to breathe,

and plenty of grass to picnic in

and birds and squirrels, and butterflies to watch and trees to climb.

Yay.

Okay. So, I just want to say,

it's not too late to go to The Museum of Everything.

Seriously?

Do you know what we can learn about in The Museum of Everything?

Earth. It's perfect.

I think the park is telling you to stay outside.

Agreed. Let's go.

I can't win.

Whoo!

Hey, Dad, how much faster does a rocket go than our bikes?

Well, we're probably going, I don't know, 15 kilometers an hour

while a rocket goes faster than that. So I would--

You know what, we can figure this all out later.

For today, let's just keep our thoughts here on Earth.

Keep her steady, keep her-- Yes. Great.

Hey, Finn. Sure you don't want to join us?

Yeah, come on, buddy, the wind is just right.

It's easy, it's just--

Nice.

There you go. Look at that.

I mean, it's better than sitting on a stump, right?

But I like sitting.

Then I have an idea.

Maybe I don't like sitting.

Hello, fish.

Hello!

No.

"You are here."

Hmm...

This is great.

What you thinking about, Finn? You seem distracted.

I found a really cool bike trail on the map.

And after lunch, we should all go for a ride on our bikes.

And along the way, we can look at nature