Time — and Nature
… and how to use it.
Yesterday, I received many messages of congratulations from literally across the globe. All in connection with my 67th birthday. It’s a strange custom, isn’t it, to congratulate someone on their birthday? As if we’ve somehow earned the right to survive that lottery where the odds are getting worse with every passing year.
But my intention with this story is not to be maudlin and to worry about how many years or days I might have left. No, I’d rather consider all the joy that I’ve experienced in this life, and still do!
Much of that has been while travelling. I’ve been very fortunate to have travelled widely, for work and for pleasure. And since I am a geologist, a science or art where our subject matter ranges over millions of years, I tend to see grand timescales from almost every viewpoint.
That was the reason for heading my story with a view from the Rocky Mountains in Canada. These were formed more than 100 million years ago, when two colliding continents folded the sedimentary layers of rock that we now see exposed to the sun and the snow and the ice. Not to mention my camera lens during a trip in 2017.
Nature has worked hard to erode the mountains, carving into the rock with rivers and glaciers. The height of these mountains are therefore an indication of their youth!
When I look in the mirror and see the folds and crags on my 67-year-old face, it’s clear that geologists weather faster than rocks do.
I’m currently living in Zambia, a land-locked country in southern central Africa. Politically, it’s a young country, only gaining independence from Britain during October 1964. So it’s even younger than I am.
The underlying soil and crust of the Earth, is much older of course.
Probably the most famous landmark in this country (as for Zimbabwe, our neighbour to the South) is Mosi-oa-Tunya (meaning “the smoke that thunders” in the language of the Lozi people), or as Livingstone called it in honour of his British Queen, the Victoria Falls.
These impressive waterfalls in the Zambezi River flow over basalt rocks that were formed during the Jurassic, some 200 million years ago. But it’s the complicated geological history afterwards, a story of crustal uplift resulting in changes in the course of rivers, and the formation of large cracks in the crust, that have led to the creation and the current location of these magnificent falls.
I say “current location” because the Zambezi River, by eroding the river bed and the rim of the falls, is slowly pulling the location of the waterfall upstream. In the years and millennia gone by, the falls were actually pouring into other gorges, now downstream. It’s probably been in the current location for about 10,000 years or so, and the river is already exploring its next step upstream.
But let’s step further northwards into Zambia, and peek a lot deeper into the past. The following image is from atop a granite hill, overlooking the Kafue River valley from within the massive Kafue National Park. These granites are part of the Hook Granite Complex, which are approximately 550 million years old.
In this part of the country, the Kafue River flows along the eastern border of the Park, before it makes a left turn and heads towards the East to eventually join the Zambezi River. It’s a part of the country that we love, and we get to see it more often than before, since one of our sons and his wife have taken over a lodge and campsite (Kasabushi) on the banks of the river, within the park.
Most people visit the area to see animals — elephants, lions, wild dogs, hippos, crocs and many species of antelope are frequent visitors. But for me, the ancient landscape also has its own beauty.
Millions and actually billions of years have gone by to turn the world into exactly what it is today. (Although we humans are doing our level best to change it much faster, but that’s another story.)
However, far from getting lost in the mists of time, we also try to milk the maximum enjoyment from every day and every hour while we have the privilege to be here. As we should!
Does this story have a message? I guess so: We are only on this ancient planet for such a short time, we should enjoy the beauty and experiences that it has to offer, for every bit of that time. While ensuring not to screw it up for future generations.
I’ve been inspired to write and submit this story, after sharing in and enjoying the wonderful experiences by other writers here on Reciprocal, like Elvie Lins:
And Terry Day:
If you do like my pictures and my reflections on travel (and on life), please let me know in your comments. (I’ve got lots more to share!)
