On Time

I think a lot about time. I think a lot of the time. A lot of time I think. I think time is a lot.

The subject of time fascinates me. When I think of time as a person I tend to then waste it, use it, manipulate it.

Time is, outside of the seasons, and our bodies changing and growing, and decaying and dying, time is essentially a human construct; a social construct (I know, big social workie words...I'm so cool!). Ok, here's another, one of the many, many, interesting things about Pittsburgh (the on-going list of Pittsburgh's Firsts) time was first regulated/coordinated in 1869 in Pittsburgh by an astronomer named Samuel Langley who set a standard time. This was only brought on by the entrance of the railroads into US life. Before this, every town had it's own time, set by the town-square clock, that everyone followed. Which seemed fine. Except when you went to another town, of course. But I guess, prior to 1869 people didn't get as uptight if you were late for your dentist appointment. But with the event of the railroads plunging across the country the budding capitalists, robber-barons, industrialists and general entrepreneurs decided that coordinating a railroad schedule for the entire country was a good idea, and would make them more money. So the time that everyone was to follow was set in Pittsburgh (I know, there's all kinds of material there!). Not only that, but you have Pittsburgh to thank for time-zones across the nation, and...wait for it...Day Light Savings Time (don't even get me started). For the past, now, mere 200 years our human lives have been regulated and regimented by something designed initially for the railroads, and it has now become a central focus of our very, very busy lives. Don't be late! Pay attention to the time! Over-time! Hurry! Time, Time, Time. I now have some appointments that I get 4-5 reminders about a week before the appointment. This phenomena of time, of our own making, can get kind of stressful. But that's if I think of it as a person...

a person holding sand in their hands — Photo by NEOM / Unsplash

At the end of my massage, my therapist, Janine, always gently says, take your time. Ahhh, MY time. It belongs to me. No one else. It's in me to do pretty much what I wish with. Somehow that's empowering. I can make time, rather than do time, or have time do me.

I decided to do an experiment, and ignore time. This is really hard! So, of course, I didn't get shit done, but maybe that's ok.

It seems that in the past two hundred years since time became important to humans, we have actually lost sight of the vastness of time. We stress about being 15 minutes late for an appointment (ok, it's rude, I get it), but in the grand scheme of things...

I often feel like time is squeezing me until I am suffocating from it. Somehow what we do right now has become so very important, and I don't necessarily have an argument for that, but I want to lay out here that humans have been on earth for somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 years. We really don't know how old the Earth is, rough estimate of 4 and a half billion years, so, yep, lets do the math -> human's have been on the earth about 0.04445% of the life of the planet. We're pretty insignificant overall. And just in our life time, now, we have spent a lot of time (and effort) carving out divisions and disparities in terms of generations as defined by years and what decade you were born in, and age (I ask what came before the "Greatest Generation"???) Were there generations during medieval times? We now have carved out 5 or 6 generations all in my lifetime and plopped them into distinct boxes, personalities and categories. with names: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Z. Millennials (which makes everyone's eyes roll). Ageism. Fucking help me. As a species, us humans are so very, very young. So much younger than the trees, or the mountains, or the lakes, which really don't care what generation we're in, or what we're called. And ten or twenty or fifty years difference really doesn't count for anything in my ballgame (yup, update, Pirates are not doing so well...I know, big news flash).

There are archeological digs in Pittsburgh that have uncovered human tools and civilizations living in this area 15,000 years ago. We have only had universal time for the past 200 years, so, again, lets do the math -> a small 1.33% of the years that humans have lived in this area have we been subject to the hands of a clock, or the digital numbers on a screen.

I think that standard time has pulled me further away from my relationship with the earth. I don't have to check in with the sun to know when it's going to get dark. Seasonal cycles...

Could I have written this blog before I retired? Nope. Retirement has given me some luxuries, I get it.

While on the subject of time...I had my 63 birthday in July. Craig thru me a party as 1. It was my birthday 2. Good excuse for a party 3. We now actually know people in Pittsburgh that we can invite to a party (whaho, good for us!) and 4. Because it was my Diamond Birthday.

You may ask, what is a Diamond Birthday? And I'll supply you with answers. I first learned of this when my friend, Cookie's grandson had his Golden Birthday, which is when you are turning the age of the number day you were born. So for him, he was born on the 14th of the month, and he was turning 14. I guess it's a thing, they make decorations at Michael's for these things. Of course, now many of you are doing the math and figuring that the event has long flown the coop. Well, I decided not to be deterred. Thus I found out about Diamond (or Silver, if you prefer) birthdays, when you are turning the number age as the year you were born. I was born in 1963 and I turned 63 this year...PARTY!!! Again, some of you may be doing the math, and it may have passed, or you'll be in your 80s...no worries. There are lots of mile stone birthdays: the 5s, the 10s, or just celebrate YOU. Like I said, good excuse to have a party. Do it! Click on the music link below to start getting in the birthday party mood...oh, and you need a really ass-kicking birthday party playlist (I can offer more suggestions on that).

🎵 Listen on Amazon Music

Geez, you're probably wondering, hey, what else do I need for my party?? Besides the obvious...CAKE!.... Well, I need to be upfront here and discuss a casualty of my party

☹️

Balloons

If you weren't already aware (oh, me, yeah, sure...) balloons are on their way out. In so many ways. City parks in Pittsburgh have recently banned balloons from entering the park grounds. Yes, they are bad for the environment; no getting away from the fact. And, there's the whole helium thing. Helium is finite, and there is a short supply of helium in the world. I guess helium gets drawn out of natural gas, which I kind of find the whole thing fascinating that it's a naturally derived gas, humans can't reproduce it (well, you could, but it involves something to do with a nuclear reactor...this is big-time above my pay grade or security clearance), and you can't recycle it, once it's released, that's it, non-recoverable, gone, fini, adios, arrivederci. I admit, I'm a balloon lover. Thus I snuck in one last hurrah. What can I say, it was my birthday...Diamond, none the less! This really does tie into the whole Time theme of this post...bear with me:

Time is NOT on my side. Sorry, Rolling Stones. Time is not on anybody's side. Time really doesn't give two flying you-know-whats about us. There's no escaping time. Time does not discriminate; time effects everyone. Sure, rich people get better health care and better Dr's, but you still can not prolong time indefinitely.

“This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.”

-J.R.R. Tolkien, "Time Riddle" from The Hobbit

I'm, of course, trying here with my balloons, but it's not going to work. Eventually the helium will seep out of each balloon and they will flop. I tried to talk my brother, Charlie, when he was visiting, into sucking the helium out of the balloons and talk like Mickey Mouse, but he figured it would mess with his brain somehow...really! 😝

Yes, I love my balloons. The party was over a month ago. I'm slightly pathetic.

I don't know what happens to us when we die and our time runs out. I have some thoughts and ideas. I figure that everything dies, eventually, even rocks. Accept, there are some quantum physics theories about energy not dying. And, I'm not sure if or how love dies

Oh, dang, Dolly Parton's song just came into my head while writing this.... 😢

I will always love you