My summer adventures only started in Deutschland (Weltmeister 2014 WOoo!) from Germany I took a very long journey down to the southern tip of Africa to explore Cape Town.
Long.
Indeed, I left Frankfurt at 2:35 pm and arrived in Cape Town at 8:10am the next day (with a little stop over in London). I was SO EXCITED for my month exploring, those 18 hours felt like a heart beat. While I was looking forward to seeing my dad and start my job hunt, the return trip to the US was an utter eternity.
Since returning home, I have been thinking a lot about time and distance. Of course we could jump feet first to some heavy math (always my instinct) Physics does a beautiful job of explaining how measurements are relative to the velocities observer. Space and time should be considered together and in relation to one another.
Sure, sure E = mc2 and all that jazz but that wasn’t what I was feeling. It was that magical ability for space and time to fold itself around you depending on circumstance: are you excited, in pain or afraid, with those you love, all alone and joyful?
Yesterday, I watched a brilliant film on Skype with Stefan in Cape Town: Sure space and time are relative, but so is distance.
Here are some absolute distances for you:
- Cape Town is: 7794 miles, 12543.2 km, 627,150 Boa Constrictors, 113,000 St. Paul’s Cathedrals, 38,712 Eiffel Towers, 2.09×10^6 Giraffe Necks, 16,547 Floridas, away.
However, it is also: One Skype call, a post card, a text message, a heart beat.
As a “military brat” much of my life has been spent “far” from the places and people I love. We are a mobile clan, ask any of us.
But “far” is relative.
We have all had conversations with people two feet away that may as well have been in Bermuda. On the same coin, if you close your eyes during a video call with your sister in NY, your dad in Florida, your best friend on the other side of the planet….you may as well be holding their hand.
A Cup A Day 