Millenium retrospective
In the United States, our historic holidays leave a little to be desired. Look, someone signed something---let's blow things up to celebrate! Hey, fat birds---let's eat one to celebrate! The most recent millenium Americans noticed celebrated an event in Israel two thousand years ago.
Managing a couple offshore offices adds persepective. At our Kazan, Russia, office we're celebrating the 1000th anniversary of Kazan's earliest discovered foundation stones. On August 30, 2005, Kazan will be 1000 years old.
In America in 1005 AD, the Viking sailor Leif Ericson decided turkey wasn't as filling as roast boar, so sailed back to Norway in his Viking ship.
Since the Vikings, we've forgotten how to build with wood. As a child, I visted Norway's millenium old stavekirke (tarred wood churches) and realized the smallness of our place in the world. These days, we can't even keep a thousand year old church from burning down.
As our staff in Kazan enjoys the well deserved festivities, imagine for a moment what America might be like on 26 June 2585 (Roanoke Island) or 13 May 2607 (Jamestown). Personally, I think that long before then, we'll have all suffocated under a giant nationwide warning label.