Triple Threat

Today is a day I thought would never come.  This is my 122^nd blog in as many days; I am one-third of the way through this leap year of 366 days.  As a celebration of my own exhaustion of energy and ideas, today I am considering things that come in 3s or thirds. 

Hockey games are divided into three periods.  Typically, the first of these periods is the least consequential.  This irony is not lost on me.  We give three medals for the best in each Olympic sport.  The third of these—the bronze—is often distinguished from the first two by fractions of points or seconds.  

My son’s college term is divided into quarters, which means he does three terms per school year.  There is a summer quarter, but at just 4 weeks in length it is hardly on equal footing with the others. Calling three terms ‘quarters’ is a little like calling a trident a fork.   It was a mistake not to consider the consequences of his going to a college with a quarter system.  Although each term is comparatively shorter than typical semesters, it is considerably more work to do papers, mid-terms and finals three times per year rather than only two.

Music does a lot with threes and thirds.  Waltzes and mazurkas are song forms set to three beats per measure.  In a waltz, the first of the three beats is a predominant pulse, while a mazurka gives more even weight to each of the beats.  Triplets are three notes in a beat.  A third is defined, simply, as the distance (4 half-steps) from C to E.  It is an accommodating interval, portraying a range of color and emotion.  A third can be whimsical, as in the theme from “It’s a Small World” or “When the Saints Go Marching In.”  The same interval can also be dark and foreboding.  The opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, a falling third, were said to be referred to by the composer as “Fate knocking at the door.”

“They” say things come in threes.  I have heard this in relation to bad things more often than good.  Once, when two bad things happened to someone I know (in this case, a marriage’s breaking up and crashing his car) I heard him refer to his anticipation of the proverbial third event as “waiting for the other shoe to drop.”  I wondered if he realized that his two shoes had already fallen.

Three has a lot of religious and spiritual meaning attached to it.  There is the Holy Trinity.  There is the unity of mind, body, and spirit.  Of art, science, and religion.  Three is the first odd prime number. Any multi-digit number ending in three is divisible by three.  A triangle, with its three sides and angles, is the most stable structural form.  Buckminster Fuller used the triangle as the building block of his geodesic dome.

I am one of three children.  I am a third generation American.  I won third place in a fifth grade track meet for the 100 yard dash.  My husband and I have lived in three cities together.  He removes wisdom teeth, which are called ‘third molars.’  When given a choice among numbers, I always pick ‘3’.  My father used to carry a card in his wallet that said “All schmucks pick three.”

As a consultant and technical writer, I have enjoyed this opportunity to tell my own stories using my own name. It is a nice change.  I am starting to get a feel for my voice.  I am only slightly daunted by the need to produce daily stories—every day, without fail.  Most importantly, I look back at the last 122 days and wonder, “Can I make it to the end of the year?”  

Yes.  Yes.  Three times yes.

Tomorrow's blog:  Taxing Thoughts