“Where did the time go?”
“My how time flies.”
“It seems like only yesterday that...”
Time is a matter of perspective, obviously. An hour spent in the doc’s waiting room is a lot longer than the hour spent on a beach with friends. I was faced with a “time perspective” the other day. We went to a friend’s house that--though they live only 15 miles from us--I had not been to since I was probably 7. They have two girls just about exactly my age and Andrew's age, but the majority of our relationship took place between 1 to 5 years of age for me. I guess when they went to public school and we did the home school thing we sort of lost touch as we got involved with different circles.
Anyway, Mom, Andrew, Maryah and I went to their house Monday morning for the first time in years. As we walked through the paths in the woods surrounding their house that were dreamlike in their familiarness, Mrs. Webb said, “At first, I think, it was so long ago that you were here, playing in the creek as toddlers. But then I look at you and think, where did the time go?--it was so quick.”
It’s a contradiction. Right? Actually, it’s not. It all depends on your perspective, the way you are looking at our relationship. On the one hand, you can look back through life--in my case I can look back through about 11 years--and view our friendship experience back then through those years. Essentially, you think through all that you have been through--college, first job, driver’s license, high school, SATs, braces, that one health scare, that one memorable vacation, the summer I met my best friend, the Christmas I got the doll I wanted, the day I learned to ride my bike, etc. etc--all the way back to that day where we trekked into the woods and got muddy and played in the creek. Wow. Yes. That was a looong time ago. And you get the mental picture of a curvy line like this:
But there’s another way of thinking about this. You simply think, that day in the creek is where I was then. This day at the same creek is where I am now. Wow. Yes. Suddenly, it was “only yesterday.” Not long ago at all. Point A to point B, smoothly interconnected in history. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So it looks like this, since you aren't taking any side trips on your walk down memory lane:
Thus, it all depends on your perspective. Actually, there’s a third perspective that you could get into as well. One that actually captures the whole conundrum perfectly. But I’m no physics major, and it has to do with the fourth dimension and possibly tesseracts too. Basically, the gap between A and B is closed, like taking two ends of a string and bringing them together, so now you are just stepping from 1997 to 2011, instead of hop-skipping between all the intermediate years as well. Additionally, you get to keep the in between years (the loopy part of the sting hanging down), so it is all unified, and you pretty much get both perspectives together. Even if they seem like contradictory perspectives. And this is when you say: “I must have been created for someplace timeless, because time is so constricting and confusing. The final reality is now. There was then, but I am seeing then now, and then is very much a part of me because it happened...so in a way it doesn’t matter whether it feels like yesterday or feels like a million years ago, because it is all now. Then is now. Just as much as then was then. Because it is all a part of me.”
I think. Sorry if you can’t follow that, and I don’t blame you if you quit reading already. This was more something I was just thinking about, and wanted to get out of my brain by writing it down. :-/
Time has continued to plague me, however. Mom decided she would help me get my passport, since I was promised one when I turned 13. In her defense, she has tried in the past, we just always hit a road bump (the place was closed, we didn't have both parents with me...etc). But now that I am 18 the parent thing doesn't matter, and I have my DL and my birth certificate, so the process is pretty easy. Apparently. It's still wicked expensive though. I'm telling you, if everyone went out and got a passport, the national debt crisis would be over.
So yesterday we went to the post office, and asked, "is this where you get your passport photo taken?"
Post office lady: "it is from 9 to 3."
Mom: "what time is it now?"
We both turn around and look at the clock on the wall behind us. 3:08. Come on. I give the PO lady this little smile that says "Pretty please. I didn't straighten my hair for nothing!!" But I can tell it's a no-go.
Mom: "Well, can we at least get the application?"
PO lady: "sure. Just fill out this side and this side, not down here because that is for us and--where are you going? We need to know that."
It's a good thing I have mom to do the talking because at this point I just sort of smile and let out a little laugh.
Mom mutters: "Europe. She's going to Europe."
Me to myself: Why do they ALWAYS ask where you are going? Why do you have to write down on the form the country you are visiting? Don't they know that luck favors the prepared? Some people on earth are adventurous, and get their passports even when they have no planned destination--they're just hopeful, and ready to go at a moments notice. Even when you are actually stuck in the driveway because you don't have a car since your brother is taking his car to college which was the only car that we could squeeze in. Even when you are broke. Even when you have loads of school starting on Monday. Even when....
Etcetera etcetera.
So anyway we left the post office, mission failed. Well, we did have the form, so I filled that out upon arriving home. I became rather disconcerted, though, because I read on the form that passports have those computer chips in them now...which means that once you have one, THEY know where you are at any given moment. Thus, when I am not using it, I shall probably store it somewhere far far away from where I actually am. I'm not sure what I'll do when I'm traveling with it. I mean, obviously THEY will know which country I am in, but the terrible part is that THEY could figure out just which remote, quaint little town I'm in too. I guess I'll have to talk to Joe St. about it. Not that I'm paranoid or anything. I will be after I talk to him though.
This morning was success, because mom and I went to the drugstore and got my photo taken (it turned out pretty well. Better than my DL photo haha).
Oh and if you are curious, I went ahead and wrote on the form that I am going to Italy, Switzerland, and France for 3 weeks, starting Nov 4th. After the whole application process, I think I really will have to go. Because places like Italy have this different perspective on time. More laid back. Such that, if you showed up at 3:08, they would probably still take your passport photo for you.
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