1,731,147,815 seconds and counting

What an immaculate day! The first month of Spring is upon us and we couldn't ask for anything more. The sun is brilliant lighting up the blue sky and there is a small wind gliding over the water this morning. South of the border spring actually started earlier. Astronomers now say that spring season starts a day earlier, March 20, in all time zones in North America.

In the southern hemisphere, the vernal equinox corresponds to the center of the Sun crossing the celestial equator moving southward and occurs on the date of the northern autumnal equinox. During the 20th century, March 21 was actually the exception rather than the rule. The vernal equinox landed on March 21 only 36 out of 100 years. And from 1981 to 2102, Americans will celebrate the first day of spring no later than March 20.

In the years 2008 and 2012, those living in Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific, Mountain and Central time zones will see spring begin even earlier, on March 19. And in 2016, it will start on March 19 for the entire United States.

This information spins in my brain as I think about the concept of time as we know it or have been taught. All this information is based on the gregorian calendar, which was constructed to give a close approximation to the tropical year, which is the actual length of time it takes for Earth to complete one orbit around the sun. Meanwhile it is the Mayan calendar that fascinates me which apparently was written up until December 21st, 2012, the last year of their calendar. Scholars have known for decades that the 13-baktun cycle of the Mayan "Long Count" system of timekeeping was set to end precisely on a winter solstice, and that this system was put in place some 2300 years ago.

The Mayans were incredible skywatchers. The Mayan civilization of Central America was and is the most advanced in relation to time-science knowledge. They actually have 22 calendars in total, covering the many timing cycles in the Universe and Solar System. In 2012 the plane of our Solar System will line up exactly with the plane of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. This cycle has taken 26,000 years to complete and to many it will be an incredible day of discovery.

Each year it seems we are all feeling like we are running out of time. Our days are filled to the brim with work, family, community, children, sports, shopping, exercising - there is never enough time for all the things we imagine ourselves to be doing. It is the belief of many that we are living in very fast times. Have you ever read Alvin Toffler's book - FUTURESHOCK? Time is actually speeding up (or collapsing). For thousands of years the Schumann Resonance or pulse (heartbeat) of Earth has been 7.83 cycles per second, the military have used this as a very reliable reference. However, since 1980 this resonance has been slowly rising. It is now over 12 cycles per second! This mean there is the equalivant of less than 16 hours per day instead of the old 24 hours.

So I checked out a website called www.deathclock.com. According to this website which is reminding me of how short life is, I have 1,731,147,815 seconds and counting until my last day on earth, March 1-2061. Enjoy life! Don't waste a precious moment and go out and embrace it all.

This has been another Observation from the Island.

peace.