Time

When kids are little parents try to get them to understand the concept of time by saying things like, "We'll be at grandma's in the time it takes to watch two Barney's," referring to a popular, annoying TV show when my kids were little. (I don't even know if Barney is still around, or thankfully some TV studio has hung that stupid purple costume up on a hook somewhere to mold away.)

This morning I told Kathryn she could sleep a little longer: as long as it took Bob to eat his breakfast. Even in her dreamy, half-asleep state she smiled. Not sure why, if the reference took her back (way back, to her) to her toddler years, or she knows that Bob inhales his food and she didn't have a lot of time to snooze. He can eat an entire roast in less than a minute and come around sniffing for more.

Anyway...time is just a concept, a marker. Time doesn't exist, it's just like zero, it's just something we use to measure something. It's a placeholder. Time isn't the thing; it's the thing we measure what's important.

Not too many people can wrap their heads around that, though.