"Ain't It Funny, How Time Slips Away"Where did October go? Thirty-one days, plus an extra hour, thanks to the governmental "time-saving device", DST, and somehow, I still missed it! (But then when was the government really any good at saving anything?) Any way, nine months I manage to blog something, but now October slips by without a captured thought...or even time for the slightest titilation. Ah, but time flies, they say. Still, I'm slightly undone. Had I made resolutions at New Year, this would have been the last one that I would have broken and the last time I resolved. After all, when was there ever more time to do it right than right now? So re-solving really seems such a waste of time.
Nonetheless, "Like the sands in the hour glass, so are the days of our lives", so having amassed beach loads of sand, and possibly, a few grains of maturity, I take time now to reflect on time, while there is apparently still time left for reflection. Some talk of killing time, but how can you kill time when you can't see it, don't know where it lives, and couldn't catch it if you did? Time is fleeting, you know and I never have been. (They timed me with a sundial.)
No, I prefer to learn from time (to time). Of course, that might not be too bright either. You see, a wiser man than I once said, "Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils." How true! How true! Speaking of brilliant, Einstein supposedly opined that "the only reason for time is so that everything doesnt happen at once". I suppose it's all relative though.
Speaking of relatives, my great Uncle Harry Hackenberg (he of the one unruly eyebrow fame) liked to say "Time was...!" Every sentence began, "Time was" and the story commenced from there. It was a little like, once upon a time, but those weren't some fairy tales Harry was tellin'. No, those were true life stories about the good times and the hard times. And then, there was my Grandma Woody who was a seamstress. She told me that time was a dressmaker specializing in alterations.
I've noticed, the older I get, the faster time flies! And I've developed a theory. Let me set the scene. Do you remember how slowly time passed when you were a kid? Especially in a car, and school (except for recess)...and church, oh my god! As a teenager, when you weren't having fun and being with your friends, you were always bored and time went on forever. But eventually, time began to change for you. When did you first think, there's just not enough time?...before a big exam or term paper?...or when you were with your first love and it was the time you were supposed to have her home. Well, the times they are a changin' and they keep on changing us. Until, somewhere along the way, you realize that there are entire years that you hope you'll never be cross-examined over, because you couldn't give a decent alibi.
Here's the theory. As a child, there are only a few years one has to measure against. If I have lived ten years and I compare one year to that, it's ten percent; twenty, five percent; thirty, three percent; forty, 2.5 percent; fifty, 2 percent; sixty, 1.6 percent. ( I stop with sixty because it's not my time to be calculating any further. All in due time, my friend!) Now, if I asked you to give me ten percent of your money, I bet you think I'd lost my mind completely. (Most folks wonder how even God can ask for that much!) But if I asked for 1.6 percent, you might think about it...for a second, maybe. Anyway, as one passes through time, one accumulates so many many more of everything...memories, wins and losses...friends and enemies...hopes and dreams...disappointments and disillusionments...just all kinds of stuff! And by the time you factor in even a portion of all that stuff, you end up asking, "Time. Time. Time. What's become of you?"
To date, I have been alloted 21,784 days; that's 522,816 hours; which in turn is 31,368,960 minutes; and seconds approach the number of the current national debt. Staggering numbers, don't you agree? I know I'm staggering! Having logged that much time, I think to myself, self, is it any wonder that you sometimes lose track of time and misplace an October here and there, now and then? Just relax, you're doing just fine!
Ah, I feel a whole lot better now, having gotten that off my chest! Hope you're feelin' better too! Nothin' like some time well spent!
daleach 1109
Time, the cradle of hope.... Wisdom walks before it, opportunity with it, and repentance behind it: he that has made it his friend will have little to fear from his enemies, but he that has made it his enemy will have little to hope from his friends. ~Charles Caleb Colton
I Open the Door
