Tempest fugit. That’s Greek, it translates to “time flies” in English and seems befitting usage as we are now into December and heading into a new year. Again, so soon. Or so it seems to me and probably to most of those whose majority of years are behind us; a year seems a much shorter time to us than it did when we were younger. And the reason for that is age-related neural dedifferentiation, and if you want to do the research on that go ahead, but one of the basic tenets of why time passage is different for the young and the old is just plain old math.
An easy explanation of this is while society divides time in a liner way, seconds, minutes, hours, days and on until it reaches years. But the human experience goes from event to event to mark time. Now, when I was 10 years old a year was a full 10% of my life, which is a high enough percentage to make the time from one Christmas or Summer Vacation to the next seem like a long ride on a slow train, a long trek on an uphill path. But at 73 years old, one year in my life registers only 1.36% of the total, so it seems like Planet Earth is going full tilt boogie from Jingle Bells 2024 to Frosty the Snowman 2026.
At any rate, it is indeed December once again and time for traditional end-of-the-year activities, and what would Christmas be without a parade? Well, it would still be Christmas, whatever that means to people, just with less community involvement and that would be unfortunate because we are all in this together, whatever this is. The annual King City Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture Christmas Parade will make its way eastward from Mildred down Broadway starting at 6 p.m. this Friday. If you would like to participate in this year’s parade, themed “Peace on Earth,” there is still a little time left to do so, but hurry. Email kc**************@*************er.com or call 831-385-3814 for an application form. See you on Broadway for all the sounds and colors of a Christmas parade in two days.
And the traditions continue as the students and guest performers of the Monterey County Dance Theatre present their 66th annual production of “The Nutcracker Ballet,” opening Friday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. with matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $15 at the door or may be purchased from a troupe member.
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It is the end of another reading year. I try to read at the very least one book per month, usually the number comes to more than that. I try to balance my reading, some informative some pleasure, with history or current events offset by humor or political intrigue. The last four books are a good example of that. “Gods, Heroes and Men” by W. H. D. Rouse is a kind of layman’s look at the activities of Greek gods and heroes, with references to Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odessey” and all the gods of the time. This book informed me that Zeus was not the first of the Greek gods; he is third in line as the son of Cronos and grandson of Chaos. Others names are familiar to us: Poseidon, Hera, twins Apollo and Artemis, and of course Hercules.
I’m a fan of Robert B. Parker so read “Fool Me Twice,” Jesse Stone novel. I read John Grisham’s “The Testament” and while a good story, not as good as “Runaway Jury” or “The Pelican Brief.” Presently reading “Brush Up on Your Shakespeare” by Michael Macrone just for the fun of it.
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Most of us have heard the old expression, “I’d hate to run into (him, that, them, whatever is spooky or dangerous) in a dark alley,” but few experience the sensation of that reality. I became the among the unfew a few days ago when around 3:30 a.m. I crossed paths with a wolf; and it was in a dark alley. What are the odds, huh? I was taking a writing/research break with a quick walk around my block, I get more done in the early morning hours, when as I got to the alley between South San Lorenzo and Mildred streets this shape stepped out of the dark just into the arc of the streetlight.
As you may have figured, correctly, it turned out it wasn’t a wolf, or at least not a full-blooded one, but looking straight at me the silhouette with that triangular face, ears front and alert, a dark coat with front legs a shade lighter, it certainly had a wolfish appearance. I was three-quarters across the alleyway so I kept heading west, but the animal ran out into Division Street, passed me and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk in front of my landlord’s mother’s home on the corner of Mildred and let out a few rapid and very loud barks, so I beat a slow retreat and backtracked.
The beast followed me until I got back to my street and headed north when he or she headed east on Division out of sight. I waited a few minutes and when it didn’t reappear, I restarted my circuit around the block when here it came again. It is a German Shepard that probably tips the scales at around 70 lbs., and it blocked me on the same section of sidewalk it had before; and barked again. I stood still, talking in what I hoped was a calming voice that did not reveal my fear of getting a couple canines buried someplace on my body and in a minute, a long minute, the dog headed across Division and disappeared into a yard while I rather quickly headed back to the safety of my laptop.
Big dog, scary experience. But it did get my heartrate up more than any mere walk around the block could have done.
Take care. Peace.
