Sunday, December 14, 2008

ask dr. science

My house is a fucking wreck. The kind of wreck that happens when you sat through chemo on Monday, had an activity or two every night of the week, and before that you decided to get out all umpteen green and red plastic tubs from storage late last Sunday afternoon so they're still all half-unpacked in the middle of the living room.

My life on this beautifully snowy morning has been reduced to moving things from one place to another, in the hopes of some semblance of order.

During my shuffling, I very nearly threw away something rather valuable. It's a note written on the back of a "Student Pass" (more affectionately known at my child's school as a "purple slip"):

Dear Mr. Jon Spengler,
I have a questchon. If the world fliped all at once woud we feel it?
Please let me know. I am one of bennett's frends. Thank you.


Following this, there is a crude drawing of the earth with "Antarctica" labeled at the top.

I imagine he (or she) asked the question in class, and Bennett eagerly proclaimed, "Ask my dad. He'll know." Trusting my son, the child very respectfully wrote out the question, Bennett put it carefully in his backpack, and then it entered the chaos of my house, where it could have been lost forever.

All I know is that there's a first, second, or third grader (Montessori classrooms are multi-age) out there somewhere wondering (worried?) about what will happen if (when?) the earth flips over.

I'm going to make sure he gets his answer next week. I want to know, too. But what I really want to know is: If the world flips over, will the contents of my living room magically shift into place?

6 comments:

Kirsten said...

What a perceptive question about perception! Please post the answer here too. There could always be a parallel universe where you live in an immaculately tidy house, but you're a real bitch and never recycle anything ;-)

Anonymous said...

#1. You have a REASON for your house to be a mess.
#2. I'm curious to know the answer....since there is no up or down in space, I wonder about the flipping.
#3. If it DOES flip, I'm excited for my house to find order from chaos as well!

suesun said...

Here's what I remember from our conversation last night.......
If the world were to flip, our atmosphere would be affected by the mountains moving, which would cause tremendous winds, strange weather patterns, and many hurricanes. I thought that was interesting, because of course I was thinking more along the lines of what we would feel under our feet, not above our heads. John says it would depend on how fast it flipped, but most likely we wouldn't feel it under our feet. He also said something about the core, but I was getting sleepy at that point, and it was getting complicated..........

Kate said...

Oh, wouldn't that be a treat! Hey, I went back to the gyno after staying away from my annual exams too long and got scheduled for my first-ever mommogram. You lit a much-needed fire under my butt, dear. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the stuff would just fall off into space? Might not be a bad way to get rid of clutter.

b carstenium said...

right now, totally love john and his sense of reasoning. Some how its a total comfort. :) brandy