A New Page To Write On

Our new year is finally here. So is winter. O n e thing I did first this year was call my sister Sue. She is now in an assisted living home up in Edmond and I was happy to find she received a new phone for Christmas. It is easier to use, so she thinks. I hope she is right. We have had a history of tough luck trying to communicate over her old one. Sue is 4 years younger than me, and we enjoy our time during phone visits. I went to church yesterday and the preacher spoke quite a bit about time. He noted, correctly how we waste it, how we can’t control it or stop it from passing. So true.

A once upon a time scientist, Albert Einstein often spoke about time in his reports on his studies into things like “mass” and “energy.” Albert pointed out that if we put a common wind-up alarm clock in a space capsule and had it orbit the earth a few times near the speed of light and then took the clock out and looked at it, we would find the clock had lost several minutes. Scientist now claim that if we (man) should try going to Mars it might not take as long as we thought it would. Their theory on time embraces Einstein’s theory of motion and time. In other words, if it took us 10 years to travel to Mars we would find we had only aged about 1 year. Can’t prove that either way but it’s an interesting thought when we think about how God created the Universe in a week.

I think old King Solomon must have had some of these deep thoughts when he penned Ecclesiastes. He spoke a lot about time and the fact that we have plenty of it to do the things we need to do. And I suppose January is a goodenough time to think on such as this. In the year 2,000, the Babylonians initiated the celebration of the New Year. This was the start of their farming season, time to crown their new king, and make promises to pay their debts. This New Year was adopted by the ancient Romans too, but they were the guys who shifted the New Year’s dates and declared January 1 st as the start of the new year.

To make it actually official, my grandpa J. T. Bullard accepted this. too. In fact, those few days after Christmas may have been the only time period he allowed himself to sit down in front of his spacious fireplace down there on Goat Ridge in Leflore County and rest and plan out his work for the oncoming spring. But his rest was temporary as he would soon be out clearing fields, explaining his plans to his two mules, old Red and Mike. As far as I know he didn’t talk too much to his two horses and for sure kept his thoughts to himself around the other livestock (and family). But my family all knew that for sure J. T. Bullard found plenty to do on his farm.

The passing of time did barge in and interrupt the ongoing relationship between me and my oldest brother Gerald. Last November he called me and told me he would be down to see me in a few days. “How are you coming?” I asked. “I’ll just drive down. I’ve got a good car and I enjoy driving to Oklahoma.” I pondered this as I remembered that Gerald was now 89 and wondered if this was a good idea or not. We talked about the election which was on that day. “Yes,” he said, “I’m having a little watch party tonight.” He said, “since Joe Biden wants to wean us off oil and will ruin my business, I’m pulling for Donald Trump to win.” On that we soon quit.

About two hours later I got a call from Gerald’s daughter Melinda. Gerald had suffered a heart attack and died. No postelection party. No trip to Allen. Gerald had used up his time. Or as it says in that old book of Ecclesiastes, time had run out for my brother. This new year and the ones to come will certainly be different without Gerald. I hope your 2022 is prosperous and happy’ and you can appreciate what you have in this particular time and space.

–– Wayne Bullard, DP cwwaynebullard@gmail.com