Friday, December 21, 2012

December 21, 2012 – APOCOLLAPSE


From NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day - today
 

I’m starting this essay on August 18th. Wired of August 17 gave me the idea for the title of this essay and the nudge to think about what I think about so-called apocalyptic events like these.  Well, there it is: without further thought I used the descriptive words “so-called”. Deep thought or no thought, it indicates I’m not at all worried that the day of doom will arrive.
It’s like ghosts – I’d rather believe in them and find out I was wrong, than not believe in them and find out I was wrong. Know what I mean? I’d rather believe that our world will go on for eons and live as I do now, than begin planning for an end that, if it comes, will be the end: no matter of prep will have helped.
 
Update – November 4, 2012 –Flood and Fire in Breezy Point – here’s how our niece described it:
 
To all, Thx for all of your messages of concern. We are all ok. Our house is standing because of our neighbor's ugly cement fortress wall surrounding their house. When the ocean came roaring up, the wall veered the water to either side. Our house was protected just enough not to receive the brunt of the waves. Billy and Will stayed in the house to ride out the storm and that was a major mistake in hindsight. It was a harrowing experience for both and they are traumatized from the experience. They said fire balls were flying through the wind and landing on random houses setting them ablaze. The sky was bright orange throughout the night. That being said, we are only 1 of only about 20 houses not destroyed by fire or flooding. All of my close friends lost their houses and everyone must find a place to live. We are blessed in that regard as well. My brother has an unsold apt at 302-96th in Bklyn (in the same building as my sister and dad.) We have 3 air beds and a coffee pot. A lot of Breezy people are staying in Bay Ridge so we meet people we know every day on the avenue. The bars are packed with Breezy refugees. (is anyone surprised at that fact???) And so......we are alive, my friends are all alive and what can we do but carry on. Thx again for your e-mails and I would love your continued support in the weeks ahead. Go Giants!! Love ya, Janet
 
This all just mind boggling. I can’t begin to wrap my mind around losing everything. Talk about the Apocalypse! I guess many of the folks hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy must think that it came earlier than predicted: December 21 is the wrong date, too late. Talk about acting and re-acting – I can’t begin to think of such a scenario. I’ve heard about tsunamis and landslides and earthquakes all over the world. I’ve heard the news about devastating forest fires that claim dozens of houses, I heard about, and later saw, the devastation on the Gulf coast after Hurricane Katrina, but this, as it would do because I lived in the same area, hits me very close to home. All I can say is “Whew!” My PC home page is the New York Times: their daily pictures and updates from the nearby states - millions still without power, public transportation a laugh, guarding against looters - are an eyeful.
 
 
December 20, 2012 - So the Mayans ended their Long Count calendar on tomorrow’s date.  Clever of them!  They turned to each other and said “Well that job’s done forever. In 2012 we’ll just reuse this” - or words to that effect.  They planned to just roll it around again and start at the beginning.
Also: I don’t believe it disastrous that the sun will align with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years.  Where’d they get that number?  I’m no astrophysicist, but I get a mental picture of our spinning galaxy, and I compare our sun system to a yoyo whirling around on the end of a string: the sun is always in line, on that string, to the center of our galaxy.
I know that a lot of folks out there, even whole cities, are stockpiling food and have built underground shelters.  Didn’t they do that back at the turn of the last millennium?  Nothing much happened then except for a few minor computer glitches.  The scenarios are many and varied. But it seems they’re all preparing for “The End”.  If it is “The End” then that will be that: they – and I – won’t need food; shelter will be no shelter. We won’t know the difference because we won’t be.  I’m posting this a day early – just in case!
 
December 21, 2012  - Well, I was so not worried that I forgot to post this yesterday.  I got to thinking: do you remember the old Kingston Trio ditty called The Merry Minuet: “They’re rioting in Africa, they’re starving in Spain…” ?   Well, change the lyrics just a wee bit and the world, with the addition of countless electronic gadgets, is just the way it was in the late fifties and early sixties. I don’t think things will ever settle down much – much as we can hope it will.



One last thought, tongue in cheek: my “perpetual” calendar – just like this one -
ends with 2035. Should I be worried?


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