This isn't a lesson in cosmological time but unfortunately for you, you're going to get one to prove another point. Carl Sagan, in order so you could grasps the past 13.9 BILIION years of time, compressed it all down to just one year. It's a a lot easier to apprehend that than anything in the billions.
It kind of jolts you when you realize our Earth formed in September. It feels kind of late but that's when it happened compared to the rest of the universe's births. Even more startling, compared to the rest of time, is that the first real humans formed on December 31, 11:52PM on the last day of the year. Just 8 minutes ago..if today was New Years eve and you're seeing the ball drop now.
I wondered, could I apply this to my own life? Show my own life compressed on a one year calendar? You bet you can if you sit there and figure the damn formula out. The one I came up with may be wrong and off. I know it's not entirely accurate down to the exact day but it's enough to have startled me. I have to make one supposition though, when was I going to kick the bucket? I used a site, “Living to 100” to get a “range” of when I may pop the twig. Due to the males in my family kicking it wayyy before their time and I have those genetics, I probably ain't long for this world as well. Then again, I could be wrong an beat the genetic averages of this family but in order for the calculation to work, I need a life span in years.
According to Living to 100...which I won't and the calculation pegged me to quit at 74.
So, I'm 58 and a half now, what day of what month do I live at?
I start with my age, 58.5 x 365 = 21,353 days. Multiply that by .0138 (my personal dead factor) and that gives me 294.7. Divide that by the average number of days in a month (30) and I get 9.82.
That's 9.82 months. Nine months (September) plus .82 of the next one. That comes out to about October 25th. Holy Mother of God. I'm in late October now! Two months left, abouts, if I actually hit it at 74 on December 31st.
If things hold true and I float away at 74, my life on a calendar looks like this:
I started kindergarten at 5 on January 29th.
First Communion? February 10th at 8.
At 13, I saw the first Star Wars movie on March 8th. That's how old that flick is!
Add to that is when I saw Apocalypse Now (1979), which fell on March 19th. Another oldie.
March 18th was my first concert seen, Frank Zappa.
I got my license at 16. Which fell on March 24th.
A certain fun something happened at 17 and a half, that was March 29th.
High School graduation? April 3rd.
College graduation? April 27th (I did the FIVE year plan. It would've been April 22nd had a relative not going completely crazy requiring me to play nurse for a good time).
Best concert I saw? Pink Floyd, April 29th of my calendar. The Delicate Thunder tour.
I then noticed many of the great fun things I had done, all the major milestones I reached in my life, happen in my youth. Why did I notice that, because the rest of the calendar gets more sparse as I and it age. I was then a working schlepp and the fun moments were more and more spaced out. Also, I cannot recall every damn day I worked because...why would I? Why would anyone? What possible mileposts can be found with, “Sigh...another Monday again” can I peg on my calendar and why would they stick out?
My Mom died in 1996, or June 11th. My brother in 2003 or July 21st. That also be the time I had a nice summer fling with Roberta, who was far out of my league monetary-wise.
My dalliance with Lori of Cheyenne Wyoming? July 2nd.
I got my first dog, a maniacal German Shepherd in 2005 which was July 26th.
I had a great free, state paid for summer vacation in 2012 which fell on abouts September 4th.
I hit 50 on September 12th
The last technical real mountain I climbed, Willard (which is a kid's hike vs. Mt Washington), was on or abouts October 12th.
Covid hits the US solidly..(St Pats Day in 2020) about October 14 ish,
Today, I'm in late October...Wow.
All of this just underscores the fact I better get that bucket list checked off faster than I thought. All those days I have left ain't gonna be with a great, agile and working body come late December. Or...I may get hit by a bus tomorrow...either way, time to regain some of that fun I knew in my youth. It's time to cue that old saying they have about older men who try to grasp vitality and youth one more time, it's usually said after they make a huge mistake and create a fine mess of their lives...”You foolish old man! What were you thinking?!!”
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