2020 - to you All

[David]

Hello, I am writing this at the end of the decade with a new decade about to dawn ... with an aside of well-wishing to all my Australian friends .. what their poor country is undergoing right now ... I wish you well and hope the rains come soon and stop this awfulness ... but, back on track ... 2020 coming so to you all ... my message to each and every one of you, to your beautiful pilgrim hearts from my somewhat faulty pilgrim heart ....

 

[chinacat]

Amen to that ️

Thank you, David, for this lovely post

 

[Taswegian Traveller]

Thank you for thinking of us in Australia. Yes, our beautiful country is on fire and still another 2 months of Summer to go...... hard not to start ranting about the ostrich like mentality of our leaders in denying the existence of climate change when faced with such overwhelming evidence to the contrary! But this forum is not the place for this sort of discussion.
Rather we have to focus on what we can do to help one another and our beautiful planet. The Serenity prayer comes to mind at times like these. May 2020 bring much needed healing to everyone everywhere and to our precious Mother Earth

 

[Tassie Kaz]

Thank you for thinking of us in Australia. Yes, our beautiful country is on fire and still another 2 months of Summer to go...... hard not to start ranting about the ostrich like mentality of our leaders in denying the existence of climate change when faced with such overwhelming evidence to the contrary! But this forum is not the place for this sort of discussion.
Rather we have to focus on what we can do to help one another and our beautiful planet. The Serenity prayer comes to mind at times like these. May 2020 bring much needed healing to everyone everywhere and to our precious Mother Earth ❤

Thanks @David, I echo the appreciation in thinking of us with large parts of our nation on fire & battling long term drought.
And as walkers, we can take heart that our chosen mode of transport (on foot) is the most gentle on the planet. Of course we first have to get there ✈ & then there are the sheer numbers on some trails but hopefully that is balanced by the goodwill, unity, connections made & the cultural & linguistic divide conquered especially in these times of intolerance & discrimination in so many places around the world.
I believe we do greater good than harm...& long may it remain so. We are ambassadors for our home countries & for the amiable endeavour that is long distance walking.
Best wishes to everyone & all your plans (walking or otherwise) for 2020.

 

[dougfitz]

@David, what a wonderful sentiment to share.

That said, it always fascinates me when people want to mark the end of a time period like a decade or century a year early. I always think of these divisions as counting constructs, when it only makes sense to start with the number one, ending a decade with ten! Very simply, a traditional structure begins with the year One, and the 21st Century began on 1 Jan 2001, as did its first decade, and it's third decade will begin on 1 Jan 2021.

I suppose in these times when 'anything goes', you can decide to celebrate the end of a decade any year you like. And, to my great distress, I noticed recently that the once powerful arbiter of correctness, the BBC, is suggesting that this year is the end of a decade, so you are in good company.

In the meantime, I

• Zero-eth, won't get too upset by the odd counting, and
• First, wait till the start of 2021 to celebrate the start of this century's third decade.

 

[chinacat]

First, wait till the start of 2021 to celebrate the start of this century's third decade.

Yet a baby’s first year is the 12 months before s/he is 1 year old

 

[dougfitz]

Yet a baby’s first year is the 12 months before s/he is 1 year old

Precisely, it is their fist year, not their zero-th year and they turn one at the end of it, not zero. And they are a decade old when they turn ten, not when they turn nine.

 

[Mettetäti]

@David

• First, wait till the start of 2021 to celebrate the start of this century's third decade.

And this was the most important thing you found about this? Really?

 

[dougfitz]

And this was the most important thing you found about this? Really?

I started my reply with the more important thing. The other stuff was just a droll observation!!

Of course, one might ask whether you reflected on this yourself.

 

[David]

but our calendar calculations don't work like that - for some reason (neatness?) we count the first year as zero therefore the end of the number nine in the series is actually the end of the tenth year, a decade, so the next ending in zero is a new decade - so, 2020 - Happy New Year and Decade!

 

[IngridF]

Much Love and Joy to you all and blister free Caminos. Wishing you a Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year.!

 

[OTH86]

Peace to you all for the new year.
Buen Camino!

 

[Anniesantiago]

Happy New Year, David!

 

[chinacat]

but our calendar calculations don't work like that - for some reason (neatness?) we count the first year as zero therefore the end of the number nine in the series is actually the end of the tenth year, a decade, so the next ending in zero is a new decade - so, 2020 - Happy New Year and Decade!

..... as with a child’s age .... ?


Btw, I seem to remember this was a bone of contention at the time of the millenium

 

[dougfitz]

but our calendar calculations don't work like that - for some reason (neatness?) we count the first year as zero therefore the end of the number nine in the series is actually the end of the tenth year, a decade, so the next ending in zero is a new decade - so, 2020 - Happy New Year and Decade!

But @David, calendar dates work exactly as I described. Dates are ordinal numbers, counting numbers if you will, and start with the first of a thing and progress from there. There is no concept of zero in this framework. The Gregorian calendar comes forwards from 1 AD. Nothing happened in 0 AD (or BC 0) because no such year exists. The year before 1 AD is BC 1. The end of the first decade after Christ's birth is the end of 10 AD, and the start of the second decade at the beginning of 11 AD, and the pattern continues to this day.

These are pretty basic number concepts, but it seems they may not be that well understood. That is a pity. But thank you for your good wishes for the new year, and let me join you in wishing everyone a safe, happy and successful 2020.

 

[lbrown498]

@David, what a wonderful sentiment to share.

That said, it always fascinates me when people want to mark the end of a time period like a decade or century a year early. I always think of these divisions as counting constructs, when it only makes sense to start with the number one, ending a decade with ten! Very simply, a traditional structure begins with the year One, and the 21st Century began on 1 Jan 2001, as did its first decade, and it's third decade will begin on 1 Jan 2021.

I suppose in these times when 'anything goes', you can decide to celebrate the end of a decade any year you like. And, to my great distress, I noticed recently that the once powerful arbiter of correctness, the BBC, is suggesting that this year is the end of a decade, so you are in good company.

In the meantime, I

• Zero-eth, won't get too upset by the odd counting, and
• First, wait till the start of 2021 to celebrate the start of this century's third decade.

I used to be a C programmer. I always count from zero.

 

[dougfitz]

I used to be a C programmer. I always count from zero.

What an odd notion. Particularly since ordinals don't exist for n<=0. But I suppose you could use any symbolic representation you choose that is convenient, such as weekday and month names, or even years. Clearly Arabic numerals, convenient as they are, have never been the only way of representing dates, etc.

I do hope you had to get beyond zero when counting the Xmas gifts you received, and the same is true for your blessings in 2020.

 

[Dave C.]

Numbers, numbers, numbers. The only numbers I currently keep track of are the time until my next Camino!!
All the best for a healthy, safe, and prosperous new year for all of our fellow Pilgrims!!
BC

 

[David Tallan]

But @David, calendar dates work exactly as I described. Dates are ordinal numbers, counting numbers if you will, and start with the first of a thing and progress from there. There is no concept of zero in this framework. The Gregorian calendar comes forwards from 1 AD. Nothing happened in 0 AD (or BC 0) because no such year exists. The year before 1 AD is BC 1. The end of the first decade after Christ's birth is the end of 10 AD, and the start of the second decade at the beginning of 11 AD, and the pattern continues to this day.

These are pretty basic number concepts, but it seems they may not be that well understood. That is a pity. But thank you for your good wishes for the new year, and let me join you in wishing everyone a safe, happy and successful 2020.

All of this is very true. Nevertheless, people have an emotional reaction to when the numbers roll over. I remember it on the old odometers in cars which were made from the little wheels of numbers. Everyone would watch when we reached a new peak and all of the nines rolled over into zeros.

It is the same with years. Not disputing that we will have completed two decades in the second millenium at the end of 2020, but the emotional reaction is still to seeing the nine change over to a zero not the zero to a one, just as the big emotional reaction twenty years ago was seeing all of the nines change to zeros not a year later when the rightmost digit changed from a zero to a one.

 

[DenWhite]

Precisely, it is their fist year, not their zero-th year and they turn one at the end of it, not zero. And they are a decade old when they turn ten, not when they turn nine.

We are in the first year of the new decade if not completed, and no ' put out fires rain' on the horizon with months of fire weather ahead of us. Already 2 / 4 day runs of 40+C and Feb is our hottest month but not to worry, the earth is flat. The first sentence in reply, the rest just an observation with regards to the Aussie post.

 

[Sue127]

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful 2020, regardless of the decade.

 

[DenWhite]

Also wishing all a 'Buen' New Year bringing us closer to our next Camino.

 

[TaraWalks]

Happy new year to you all and Thankyou @David for your lovely words. Currently in Canberra visiting parents and despite there not being a fire within 60kms, the smoke is very thick and is obscuring everything. A real “Pea Souper” as my dad would call it.

Counting down the days until my next Camino - possibly the Madrid plus other routes on top, just have to see how much time I can get off!

HNY everyone

 

[Sixwheeler]

Happy New Year to you David.