TALES OF THE SOUTHWEST: A NEW DATE FOR DOOMSDAY

Looking across the San Pedro River Valley in Cochise County, Arizona between Bisbee and Tombstone.  The range in the distance are the Huachuca Mountains near Sierra Vista.

By Grant McGee

                It didn’t happen in 2000 with Y2K, it didn’t happen in 2011 when some church dude said it would and it didn’t happen in 2012 with the end of Mayan Calendar.

                Talking about Doomsday, the end of the world.

                Now there’s a new date for Doomsday:  January 13, 2020.

                I got the word from Georgia the other day.

                Apparently some Earth Mother type has done an astrological reading and told a small group that something will happen that day…It could be Doomsday, could be a worldwide catastrophe, whatever.

                This is apparently a pretty small group that believes this, I did an Internet search on the topic and couldn’t find a thing.

                I don’t know why folks seem to be preoccupied with the end of the world.

                I remember another time when some people thought the world as we knew it would come to an end.  It was 1997 when some “New Age” folks predicted our world would change from one made of matter to one made of anti-matter.

                There would be three days of darkness.  All machinery would stop working, except for water systems.  I thought it was interesting there’d still be tap water.  We would emerge on the other side of the darkness converted to anti-matter.  Well, everyone except those who had too many alpha particles attached to them.  Alpha particles were negative-angry thoughts and if you had too many the three days of darkness would be illuminated by folks burning up like 4^th of July sparklers.  Everyone was told to boost their good, positive thoughts, make things right with those you’re angry with, forgive… to eliminate alpha particles.

                At the time I was living in Bisbee, Arizona.  Weekly seminars on this stuff were conducted.  I had nothing else to do on Tuesday nights so I went.

                Changing into anti-matter would’ve been interesting because anti-matter didn’t deteriorate like matter does, according to the seminar teachers.  So one could live forever, walk through walls and stuff like that.  You would no longer just smell a rose bush, for instance, you could walk into the rose bush and become one with the rose bush.  That would mean The Sex would be a whole different ball game.

                The expected date came and went.  One by one folks stopped coming on Tuesday nights.   I packed it in when one of the attendees said the change was still coming because her vacuum cleaner and toaster were developing intelligence and rebelling against her.

                “My vacuum cleaner was in the living room this morning,” said the woman speaking in a hushed tone, eyeing every one of us around the room.  “I didn’t put it there.  It moved there on its own.”

                There were nods of agreement and some “oohs” and “aahs.”

                Yep, time to leave that group behind.

                I remember kicking back with some friends and telling them about the stuff discussed in the meetings.

                “What do you think the end of the world would really be like?” I asked my pals.

                There was this long silence.  You could’ve heard a pin drop.  Sideways glances were exchanged.

                Finally, one of my friends spoke up.

                “I think everyone would be really, really thirsty.”

                Hmm, something to ponder.

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