Hurrying Up to Lay Still

It is a well established fact that on planet Earth we are generally in quite a hurry. Where I am in the English Midlands for example, we are moving at a gentle 635 mph or thereabouts. 

And the planet itself? Ah yes, that is in a bit of a rush as well. Around 67,000 mph, so it can make it around the sun in 365 days. Which is convenient if you are a calendar. 

Pfft! Snail pace. Or it is when you look at the speed our solar system is orbiting the centre of the galaxy. At a mere 490,000 mph. Which my grandfather from Grimsby might have described as “wellying it”. 

All of which explains why I woke up this morning, lying perfectly still yet feeling displaced. We are just back from a holiday on the Isle of Wight. So I awoke with that slightly odd sense that I was in fact, somewhere else. 

There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Down on the Isle of Wight, since it is further south, we were moving at around 660 mph. The further south you go, the wider the circle of latitude you have to travel to complete one full rotation every 24 hours.

So, being back home in Coventry means, we have slowed down by around 25 mph. Hence the feeling of displacement. 

I got up to make a brew. Safe in the knowledge that my sense of displacement was not post holiday blues. But simply the Universe nudging me back into reality.