Geologic time, how we chronologically track the back story of earth’s history, is a real mind bender. Its vastness is unfathomable, really, unless broken down into human terms. My favourite analogy is squishing the planet’s 4.57 billion-year history into one calendar year. Unicellular life shows up in March, dinosaurs go extinct by Christmas Eve, and in the blink of an eye, humans show up in time for the big New Year’s Eve party at 8:30pm, just before the finger snacks run out. We might be glad to have skipped the epic buildup to the mother of all shakers, but we shouldn’t forget just how quick good parties end.

– Mitchell Scott, “All that was now isn’t” from the Backside section of Kootenay Mountain Culture, Summer 2011 Edition

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