What a word - infinity - something without end. The word has the sound of a train whistle lonesome and long, winding its way across endless prairies and mountains that pick up the sound and carry it forward into an infinite time space.
I must have been about ten when I first heard that word. That impressionable age where all kinds of weird things matter. Infinity was one of those things in my world and outside of it and way outside of that .... that really mattered. I can remember lying awake one night trying to imagine infinity. My father said that trying to imagine infinity will drive you mad, so I quit. Things were confusing enough as it was without having to deal with madness.
When it was first explained to me (in so far as anyone can explain it) my forth grade teacher said, "Imagine a bird building a mountain higher than Everest. To build the mountain he will have to carry one grain of sand at a time from all the seashores surrounding all the continents and islands of the earth. When he has done that, he will be just be at the start of infinity. Yup.
Lying there in bed my mind reeling from this thought I began to wonder where would he go next? Would he clean out the deserts? The prairies? And when that was done would he leave our world for other worlds and then other universes? Dear God! This infinity thing can go on and on!
How many universes are there?
Don't even go there. If you do, you may as well call up the paddy wagon - right now. How many galaxies are there? Too many.
And what about those millions of galaxies and billions of universes? Are we the only life there is?
Sleep well :)
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