Holy moly, this past year flew by. Comedian and political commentator Lewis Black was doing a bit on how fast time flies when you're getting old and how unbelievably frustrating that can be.
"You know how long last summer was? Ten minutes. Actually, by the time this show is over, it'll be Thanksgiving. Actually, Thanksgiving will be during the show. Sorry, folks," Black said during his live Carnegie Hall performance.
I'm a couple months from turning 30, and I'm already feeling like that.
First of all, my wife and I don't have kids yet. But I worry that when we do, I'll blink and I'll be 75 years old. When my dad was 30, he had a 10-year-old daughter (my sister) and an eight-year-old son (me). So at 20, he and my mom were having kids, buying a house and starting a family. When I was 20, my only concern was declaring a major in college. Even when I was 25, I lived in an apartment in the Twin Cities the size of my current one-car garage (and not as nice) and was still eating Golden Grahams for dinner.
And it still seems like I just turned 21...last year.
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I've had probably the most eventful, action-packed year of my entire life, which probably had something to do with the high rate in which it passed. I moved up north from Chaska, Minn., last December - and two more times locally after that. I took a brand new job. I worked a lot of hours. I met more people the first month I came up here than I knew in my first 30 years combined (I'm a textbook introvert). I also stressed about the feasibility and reality behind our rationale of moving up here from the fledgling Twin Cities.
With the runaway train that was my life over the past year, I feel like I kind of lost a year. I also lost track of events - I actually thought the wife of a close friend had only recently became pregnant. Turns out she's due in less than a month. I knew this, but the time between when I found out and when I "re-found" out completely blew by. I also kept thinking Minnesota Wild newcomer Brian Rolston was in his first year with the Wild. I totally forgot the Wild signed him before last season.
I know I'm not alone in leading an ultra-fast-paced life, and I suppose I'd much rather have stressful situations fly by instead of gruelingly dragging on forever. So I'm writing down each and everything that happens now... no forgettin' anything this time!
Pine Journal Editor Mat Gilderman can be contacted at: mgilderman@pinejournal.com .
