Where has the year gone?

It's the time of the year to lament, "where has the year gone". There is nothing wrong with this whining other than it's repeated year after year and in at least my book has attained the status of a cliche. Where has the year gone? It sounds like a question which deserves a serious answer until one realizes that it is nothing but small talk. One cliche deserves another so perhaps a
ho- hummer like 'time flies' might be the appropriate response. Anything more enlightening most certainly would make one immediately regret making small talk in the first place. Still, as long as I've raised the question, 2011 should not be dismissed as year that is about to evaporate.

The year has not gone anywhere - it's obviously still here. It will be here tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and the days after the day after tomorrow. Every minute of everyday, every second of every minute is part of the year. As long as the clock is ticking, the year is with us. It has not gone anywhere.

If a year is always with us, one might ask how come one's hair gets whiter, his bones get more more brittle and his face gets more wrinkled. Its got nothing to do with the year. One is just getting older. The years have not disappeared. They have just piled on and the poor body just can't stand the weight. The years have piled on? Ah yes, our age is evidence that the year has not gone anywhere. More accurately, the fact that we can question where a year has gone is further testimony that the years are still with us. They will only be gone when we pass on and at that point one could care less about a fleeting year.