Old Retired Guy Blog
May 18, 2008
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Why is Zero So Scary?
Although zero is now a well-accepted concept (except by many credit card holders), there is still something about it that makes some people shudder. For example, yesterday was my wife's birthday. That birthday had a zero in it and that lowly zero generated more than one sigh of resignation. I tried to reassure her that it was alright, after all, you only turn 50 once. Unfortunately, that was ten years ago. Also, I heard on the news one night that 60 was the new 59, so it was like she wasn't even a year older! My attempts at being an understanding, supportive, consoling husband were all in vain. We were in luck, however, because we had a nice group of relatives over for lunch: Kathy's mom Elsie; her sister Jan; and her brother Tom, his wife Lisa, and their two wonderful daughters, Danielle and Erika. Our very busy son Eric also made it over. Oh, and how could I forget, there was also the always friendly and exuberant dog, Bandit! We had a marvelous meal catered by that jovial southern gentleman, Colonel Harland Sanders. (He's 118 years old, a big number indeed, but at least it has no zero!) The Colonel even supplied the chocolate cake for dessert. Elsie brought along a pan of cake-like brownies, so there was plenty of sugar for everyone.
After lunch we enjoyed looking at the flowers and weeds in our lush nature yard. Kathy gave a tour so that everyone could see the trilliums, jack-in-a-pulpits, bleeding hearts, and other flowers. Some of the violets were almost as tall as Bandit so he had to jump up and down while running around in order to see where he was going. Since the weather was so nice, after our guests left Kathy and I decided to enjoy a walk through theLongenecker Lilac Gardens in theUW Arboretum. Although Mother's Day weekend is usually considered the peak for the lilacs, the late spring and cool weather held things back a bit and they were at their absolute best on Kathy's birthday.
It's interesting how the brain works (or maybe it's how the heart works) but, after all these years Kathy looks as beautiful to me as ever and her smile still melts my heart. |
As hard as it may be to believe, there was a time when there was no number zero. When it was first invented
by the Babylonians, it was not readily adopted. In fact, the Greeks banned its use and the early Christians considered the idea heretical. An interesting history of this seemingly obvious
concept can be found in a book by Charles Seife titled 
