2414

We bloggers celebrate some of the craziest things.

For me, it is this post.  Two weeks ago, I published post number 2400. 

There is nothing magic about the number.  But it is certainly a lot of words.  Our blogger pal Calypso over at Viva Veracruz knows exactly how any words he has published. 

My software does not include that interesting statistic.  Though, I will confess, it is a number I would like to know.

What I do know is that during the eight years I have been writing Mexpatriate (and its predecessor), it has been an interesting experience.  And not always a pleasant one.  There have been several times I was tempted merely to pull the plug and enjoy Mexico like most of my fellow travelers.

But where could I get such joy about burying my verbal Easter eggs -- like that last sentence?  Sharing witticisms with you readers has offered me an opportunity to spar and parry with some partners I would never have known without this varied electronic community.

And I would not have experienced Mexico -- and other parts of the world -- in the same way if I had not been looking for The Shot or The Hook for that day's journal entry.  Some pieces, without doubt, would have been better left in my not-to-be-published file. 

But I have taken more pleasure than I should in re-reading some of my better pieces.  Humility is not my strong suit.  I have no qualms about saying some of them are quite good.

The rest?  Well, it is fortunate that blogs are such ethereal forms of communication.  True, my clunkers are there for everyone to see as long as the blog goes on ticking.  But who wants to look at old news?

The number 2414 got me to thinking.  Odd, that if it designated a year, it would be exactly 400 years from now.

If you Google the year, you will come up with all sorts of interesting images.  Take the one that accompanies this essay.  It is the map of a solar eclipse over the Pacific Ocean on 14 October 2414.

I know that solar eclipses are easy for scientists to predict.  What I find quaint is that the political boundaries show a world 400 years in the future that remains unchanged.

Yes.  Yes.  I know.  It is not really an anachronism.   It is a convenient reference for us the living to determine where the eclipse will be.

But there is something reassuring that some things may remain the same.  At least, the things that matter.

What I do know, is that the daily essays of Mexpatriate will not be posted in 2414.  I am happy enough to simply have crossed that line in posts today.

Thank you for coming along with me on the little trek that is my life.