Deep Time

There are oceans in the ridges near our house. Ripple marks and sand slips set in stone. The long weathering of the world exposed them and eventually will wear them down. A thought experiment: first, a knife. The thought precedes the word, as in the fable god brought his works to Adam to be named. The thought empowered by the word sets us apart. The knife must be steel, dealer of death, master of armies. It must be sharp. Man the destroyer – mastery of death sets us apart. Take up the knife, carefully. Observe the delicate grip of forefinger and thumb. No other primate can do this. This clever hand sets us apart. Now to the hills. No other creature walks like this. But we are not well made for it. We have to learn it and in old age our backs ache and fail from the burden of a lifetime we are not perfectly adapted for. At the summit kneel on rock, the sand of three-billion-year-old seas. Take the knife and press down hard. Try to make a scratch. Brush away the dust. Look at the blade: it’s blunt. Our experiment is done. We have made the brief human expedition through the landscape of deep time.