Too fast

There have been studies done to test the perception of time. If you ask people to count the seconds in a minute, the young will underestimate, and the old will overestimate. One has to wonder...what time feels like to a generation innately accustomed to TiVO, broadband, IM and cell phones...and if time will actually feel different for them as they age compared to the older generation of today. I was working on Z's Batman costume when he started jumping and clapping in the air. I asked what he was doing and he said he was catching the things in the air. I found myself asking, when was the last time I actually noticed the dust and fluff floating in a stream of light through a window? (Probably in college, laying on my bed in one of my stupors.) I bet lots of people have a childhood memory of watching dust through a warm window. A couple of nights ago, I was up by myself in the kitchen. I kept all of the lights off except the dull light on over the stove. My bf and I had spontaneously cleaned the fridge earlier and I wound myself down by going through the cupboards and throwing out everything expired. (I also made a note of what I found...no reason to buy chocolate chips to make those cookies when I have four already opened bags...) I had the kettle heating up on the stove, and the sounds of that coupled with the quiet dark and the chilly room took me back to our camping days. The light rattling of the kettle on a whispering flame, like it's being blown through a straw. Funny how a sound in the right situation can do that. I remember the sounds of the gas in the trailer. Maybe it was in Grandma's trailer. I don't know. The quickly cooling night. The sounds of us moving around, opening and closing cabinets with plastic latches. The contrast of the noisy vinyl seats with the minimal talking. And when I was really little, climbing up to my little bunk - cold, the slick "vip-vip" noises of my sleeping bag reminding me to be still. The hollow sound of the floor as my parents walked on it. The inky dark that your eyes almost couldn't adjust to. Rustic might be a good word. :-) I'm pretty sure time moved slower while camping. And yet the years between then and now seem to have flown. High school was a slow, slow time - a school year lasted forever. Watching my bf's kids go through it now, it's hard to believe soccer and football (cheerleading) are nearing the end and they have homecoming this weekend. Those four years contain a lifetime for them, and is a short trip for us.