Since I haven’t posted here in a few days I thought I’d better let you know that this old man is still alive. In a manner of speaking that is. Alive can be a relative term as I used to drink, heavily, and mornings were a near death experience considering the way I felt. Most of you understand this perfectly.
Today I was walking about three and one half miles at a brisk clip or 3.4 mph, if you’re counting. I do this almost daily during the summer and the hotter the better although my cut off temperature is 95 degrees Fahrenhite. Over that and I am good for about two blocks. Less, if I have my wits about me. Today it was about eighty-five so I did three plus miles then took a shower.
Along the way I got to thinking about how much I really know. Now, I could go on about my expertise in one field or another but when it comes down to it, and given the size of the universe, I believe it is more true that I know next to nothing. I can go on about some types of math or chemistry but I only know that which I’ve learned. Learning is a life unto itself though. I will say honestly that I have used only a very minute portion of all that I learned back in high school and college.. Astronomy was one that I used for a long time but have forgotten the math of it. One could say that I’ve forgotten more than I knew. Or, that I now know less than all I learned.
Last night I was outside looking at the universe. I live in the country so the stars are not influenced by city lights. There they were, close enough to touch them . . . or so it seemed. It left me with what it always leaves me: feeling quite tiny. And, I don’t mind feeling tiny when I look out at the univerwse as it puts me in my place and that place is ignorance of much that exists, how it works, or how it got so darned beautiful to human eyes. The difference between animals and us is that they see no beauty in the night sky. They either disregard it or don’t bother to look at it. Most sleep through it and get going next morning with trying to stay alive. Sublime ignorance one might say. One might think that humans see the night sky and are awed by it because we were made to see it and be suitably awed. Is that what creation is? You’d be silly not to think that is part of what we were created to understand and that separates us from the animals. Just a few thoughts in passing under the night sky.
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