By John Bright
Published: July 10, 2015
I HAVE been sleeping in my bedroom in Squamish for eight years now. Sleeping in the same house, in the same bedroom, in the same bed, which is positioned in the same celestial spot since day one. Exciting I know, but bear with me.
One early morning last week, the end of May for us Georgian time travelers, you guessed it; I was, sleeping in my affixed geographical location when a blinding light suddenly awoke me. I keep the blinds pulled back from my window about six inches allowing the night’s fresh breeze in. I awoke to the sun, so bright and warm, breaking over the crest of Mount Garibaldi and shining through a tiny gap in the blinds, onto my static bed, upon my sleeping face. I was instantly annoyed.
It always happens at a certain time of the year. Too early in the morning and long before my alarm clock has had a chance to piss me off. I am sure most of you can relate. I spend the next ten minutes flipping around in bed and burying my head in pillows; all the while, cursing the sun, the rotation of the planets, the galaxy and the universe. Then I stop and think, perhaps someday I should simply move, or at least move my bed.
Unable to sleep, and with my face still burning from the intense beam of light, a thought springs to mind. Someone, somewhere, tens of thousand of years ago, must have had the same exasperating event occur. I imagine a person perhaps living in a jagged rock cave, on a bed of straw, with the sun shining through a tiny hair crack in the wall, a sliver of light cast onto their face and bothered them in the same way. It strikes me that perhaps this annual annoyance was the single stimulating catalyst to human civilization. What if it was the reason for us being here now, where we are, at this point in space and time.
Just think, 15,042 bazillion years ago, mankind were simple hunter-gatherers wandering around the globe through the freeze and thaws with one sole purpose, finding food. There they were, following the food source, watching animals migrate while looking for plants and seeds to store in their ancient fanny packs. And that was it. Stumbling around the planet trying to stay warm, to eat and not be eaten.
As I lay here in my own bed sharing this seemingly insignificant calendric moment, I realize that someone started this whole time clock calendar thingy, waking just as I. They eventually figured it out and erected monuments that worked with the rotation of the sun (ahem, the earth) displaying equinox and solstice lengths and how long it took the fireball in the sky to complete a cycle, the seasons and so forth.
This gauging of time led to our learning when the best time of year was to plant and harvest food thus setting off the exploding chain of events leading to the evolution of modern mankind. No longer wandering around just existing simply to avoid predators, mankind was suddenly domesticated and farming began in one spot, allowing us to build permanent housing, creating social circles, communities, trading, commerce and then iPhones.
Next year, when the sun rises around another full circle, waking me early with its magnificent warmth, I will think about that same wonderful cosmic event that sparked the epic journey that has led us here today. In the mean time, I will slam the blinds shut and try to get back to sleep while cursing the sun for enlightening me.
