It seems to me there is a famous quote out there that says something to the affect, “Time always wins in the end.” I’m sure the actual quote is much more eloquent and makes you say, “Oh, I know that one.” It’s one of those sayings that sounds preposterous until you give it some thought. Imagine infinite time. Then think of some of the great accomplishments of man: The pyramids, the Great Wall of China, the Roman aqueducts, Hoover Dam, Mount Rushmore and even the Coliseum of Rome will one day revert to sand if left to their own devices. Time is a patient killer; sometimes waiting thousands of years to have its way. The natural world is its toy. It creates and destroys. We need look no further than the rising mountain ranges like the Rockies, Andes, Himalayas and Alps or the falling ones like the Appalachians or the remains of the Canadian Shield. Out of destruction can come amazing things like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, Iceland and the Great Salt Lake. Time always wins. There is nothing man can do against the most powerful force in this world; time. To fight it is instinctive but is fool’s errand at heart. Even with our own bodies, we can delay its effects but time is a persistent adversary. It will wait and wait until it wins. There is no stopping it. There is no denying it. Time will wear you down. No one has learned this lesson as well as my thirteen year old daughter. She has been on the puppy bandwagon for over a year. I give her solid reasons why a dog is not a good idea for our family at this time. They are good reasons. Any rational person would accept them and move on to another subject. My daughter is not one of those people. She knows how time works and, when used properly, can be your ally in your battle. She sends me text messages. She posts pictures of dogs on the refrigerator. When they are removed, they reappear. She Googles pictures of dogs and leaves them out for me to see. She deleted all my most visited sites from the computer and replaced them with pictures of dogs, leashes and cages for when we’re out. My blue tooth was lost for weeks and I was going crazy. After I offered her a reward, she found it in 5 minutes and put the money into her dog fund. Inexplicably the other night I found myself searching Craigslist for a dog and then emailing the person to get specifics. My daughter discovered the sent email and checked every hour for a reply until one came. They have one puppy left. What is going on with me? How did I get here? I don’t want a dog right now. It’s a really bad time. And there’s the answer. Tick, tick, tick. Time is wearing me down. It is like arthritis attacking my bones. First it goes after the protective layer and then digs in where it hurts. My daughter has begun to change her verbiage into “When we have a dog” and “What size of cage will we need.” We’re talking about a dog nearly two hours away I have only seen pictures of and I am not even sure if my daughter is allergic to. I’m not getting one. I’m not. Man, time is a pain!
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