Ticking Away

Ever since my wife and I had our first child -- on this blog, I will call him 'Fang' -- I've been more conscious of my own mortality. Partly, I suppose it's because I see the next generation growing up so quickly before me as I get slowly older.

But now that my wife (The Lump) and I have had our second child -- I'll call him Squeaky -- I've realized that metaphysics or philosophy has very little to do with it.

Its all the damn timers. I've spent more time setting timers now that I have kids than ever before. Timers for heating things. Timers for boiling things to sterilize them. Timers for cooling things. Timers that let me know when to force open a tiny set of jaws and shoot another dose of vile medicine down a small throat.

And every time I set a timer and watch the numbers tick by, I think: "There is more of my life passing away."