The tree above has been dripping sap for days on a trail I regularly take. It’s been dripping sap for years. It’s just this one drip that is taking days. Whenever I walk past it, I am reminded how nature has its cycles.
The process of a star collapsing could easily take a million years or more. After the neutron star is over 3 solar masses, it collapses into a black hole in less than a second. There’s a Great Basin bristlecone pine that has been around on Earth for over 4,800 years, so it was a seedling about the time the Egyptians were building the pyramids of Gaza. Mayflies live out their entire lives in 24 hours. For all practical purposes, jellyfish have infinite lives; anytime they suffer injuries, they go back to an early stage, the polyp, and start over again.
Now I am known to be impatient (Why is patience a virtue? Why isn’t hurry-up a virtue?). But, I am tempering my restless drive these days. My latest car has a feature where it displays the local speed on my windshield, and right next to it, I can see how fast I am going. I can program my speed to turn red at any rate I choose relative to the speed limit, so I picked 3 miles per hour. That means my speed appears in black and white if I am driving 38 in a 35 mph zone. But, as soon as I hit 39, my current speed turns red. I have found it a great way to temper my proclivity to go too fast.
I still like to do things quickly. I buy the latest computer to take advantage of more memory and faster chips. I also pay for the highest speed Internet. That way, I can work at a rate that is as frictionless as I can manage.
How about you? Are you a speed freak like me, or a more laid-back? And how will you make room for people who travel at a different pace this week?
“Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer
