on 2012 and related ramblings. . . .

The past few weeks,

I have been so unfocused.

(So pardon me if this entry is unstable, too.)

This past Sunday

I felt like the 

cosmic world was torn

asunder.

 

The result: I got sick.

***

I have this funny theory, and 

it's related to the whole idea

of a polar shift.

Polar shift:

Now, the whole idea of this gives me

a few chills.

If it's true,

I feel terrifically cheated.

Here I am;

I've been living so very long,

robbed of the privilege of 

a private death

for hundreds of years;

instead, I may be transported into the ether

en masse--

with you

all.

All of us, together,

no special ceremonies

or embalmings

or monuments

or pictures in the paper;

just a sudden,

unexpected

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

******

and what will be left of us?

This:

these very words;

these internet images and

our radio impressions;

that amazing chatter of the multitudes

that my own small voice is but one part of.

This is what will be left;

this is what assures some level of

immortality.

( geology.com )

For some reason, though, this thought doesn't disturb me at all.

If we could all just sort of do what I've been talking about in some of my entries,

then it might not be all that bad.  My two central rules are::

 

Just live each moment as if

it's the last.

and 

Just love.

 

 

What is love?

It's that stupid feeling of bliss that you feel

when you sit out under the stars by a fire

with a beer

and a cigarette.

It's that extraordinary

wordless awe

of holding a baby's hand

in your own;

 

it's the moment of loss

of control of self

when the body wrenches

orgasmically

with someone who

helps you be

your better self

even as you

help them be

their better self;

 

it's the satisfaction

of showing your son

how to change a head gasket

and seeing him do it just right;

it's the satisfaction gained

when you stop thinking about

what you need to do by tomorrow

and instead 

listen

to the story your mother wants to tell,

or that funny old man down the road, or

that kid in your class who wears a helmet

and sits in a wheelchair.

it's every act we give

to another

without thinking

about what we will

gain in return.

******

OK, all right already.

What does that have to do with 2012?

absolutely nothing

and

absolutely everything.

But back to the way I started this.

I have this funny theory, and 

it's related to the whole idea

of a polar shift:

 

the popular belief is that

this shift is going to happen

very quickly.

Well, I say:

it's started already.

How else can you explain

all the strange natural phenomena

we've been experiencing lately?

The earth is shifting,

already, perhaps even

anticipating 

the frolicsome dance

soon to begin

between her

and the sun

and this massive

black hole

in the middle

of our galaxy.

We are but bit players in this larger planetary rendezvous:

the sun and the earth,

well,

they've done this before.

Makes me wonder

what that third party, that black hole 

is 

anyway?

Perhaps it is nothing but 

a mirror

in which all of creation -

each human individually,

and humanities as an entity -

will suddenly,

unexpectedly

encounter

itself

and have to

answer

for

itself.

 

Are you ready?

 

 

 

 

wobbles and cycles - perhaps even more like a roller coaster than we think

I woke up this morning to this story on the radio:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124249439

And I was amazed.  Just last night I had been contemplating the rotation of the earth, and its course through the sky, and here is this story telling me that the Chilean earthquake has caused a plate shift so massive that our earth is wobbling just a little bit differently.  And this will impact the length of our days.  What does that mean?

I was so eager to come home and write some high faluting theory out this particular earthquake, but before I did, I did a little research, and I discovered that every time there is a massive earthquake, the news covers this same story.  In a quick Google search, I found a 1976 article with the following title:   

Excitation of the Chandler wobble by large earthquakes

Yes, the wobble is called "Chandler's wobble," and it appears that it is essential for our survival.  We need the world to wobble.  If it stopped wobbling, there's a good chance it would stop rotating.  And then we're doomed.  In fact, we're more doomed if we stop wobbling then we would be if we had that rumored polar shift.  The earth has gone through those in the past, and survived.  It's just that nothing else on its surface did. 

This is actually a topic I intend to pick up in more detail sooner or later, but I just found this story this morning to be so exciting, and absolutely news to me.  I guess you can teach an old broad new tricks.