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It's All Relative


Time - It’s all relative, or is it? In the Special Theory of Relativity Einstein determined that time is relative - in other words, the rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference. This got me thinking about the Cubs, Doc Brown, and Back To The Future.

How do you determine your frame of reference? Here it is almost Christmas, oops, I mean Halloween (it just looks like Christmas at Home Depot where all the decorations are already in place). Soon we lose daylight savings time (November 1st) then its back to darkness at 5:00 pm. Honestly, it seems like we were just there. Doesn’t it to you too?

But on the bright side, it’s 2015 and the Cubs are in the playoffs. October baseball. That hasn’t happened since the Steve Bartman incident in game six of the NLCS 2003 - has it really been 12 years? I’m thinking he’s watching the playoffs on TV.

Can you believe it was 30 years ago that Back To The Future II predicted the Cubs winning the World Series in 2015! It seemed just yesterday. Where does time go? The Cubs, who are playing the Mets in the NLCS, haven't won the World Series since 1908 and have not made it to the Fall Classic since 1945. That was way before my time.

Relative, what exactly does that mean anyway? According to my online dictionary, relative is defined as; “Considered in relation or in proportion to something else.” So, that’s what we do - look at today and compare it to what our experiences remind us of.

Indeed, as we move into early darkness let's root, root, root for the Cubbies, and ponder what references you use to measure time. Today will soon be yesterday, and tomorrow will be here before you can say Cubs win!

It’s all relative anyway . . . 

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