It’s that season again. We just had to stop and buy some Girl Scout cookies. We’re supporting a good cause, right? But darn it, those thin mints are so addictive. I’d believe you if you told me they had drugs in them!

I have been thinking about seasons lately. Girl Scout cookie season. Valentine’s Day. We measure time in revolutions of the earth; trees mark the seasons in their rings; and, if you leave your camera lens open all night and stare at the night sky, you’ll see the stars above move in the same kind of circles. It is we who are moving, of course, but the concentric rotation makes the circles seem to travel in perfects arcs. They are called star trails.

But it takes the long exposure to see the rings in the sky. The similarity with tree rings is amazing, but it is only there for those who see it. It is not obvious to the casual observer. Of course, there is no connection between the two, or is there? Both measure time. Both are natural phenomena. And there is no escaping their almost eerie resemblance. For him who has eyes to see, let him see.