It's usually the day after my birthday that actually feels like the start of something new, and since I was born after 10:00 PM, I guess it's fitting. All the writing on phenology inevitably gets me thinking about my own life cycle, and my place among human ecology. For all of human history up until the year 1900, life expectancy has been right about 30 years for an average. Like other animals, many humans died in infancy or well before adulthood, some lived to be adults, and some lived to impressive ages, like 50, 60, and beyond. It's always been a crapshoot really and still is, with the exception that today, 70 is the new 30. This means that I turned 13 yesterday, and will soon be ready to enter adulthood, whatever that means. More importantly, I feel like I better understand what it means to live through a year, thanks to this project. I understand why people feel down during long nights and cold days and why they spring to life on perfect April afternoons. As much as we have separated ourselves from nature's rhythms, they still dictate much of how we feel, think, and act. I saw this sign this morning and thought it funny to image a long line of bikes waiting for a family of superslow turtles to pass through. I also think it's good advice to slow down in general, to watch the turtle cross and take a few breaths, have a look around.
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