TIME

Time is an interesting concept. Despite the hours and minutes we have allotted to each day, depending on how we are feeling or what we are doing, it either seems to drag or passes by too quickly for our liking. Think of a quick meeting between two lovers, as described by Carol Ann Duffy:

Love’s time’s beggar, but even a single hour,

bright as a dropped coin, makes love rich.

We find an hour together, spend it not on flowers

or wine, but the whole of the summer sky and a grass ditch.

 Yet, the seconds tick by forming minutes, which form hours that collectively make up days then weeks and even years. This happens relentlessly, no matter what we are doing or how we might feel.

William Shakespeare also understood the changing perceptions of time:

Time is very slow for those who wait;
very fast for those who are scared;
very long for those who lament;
very short for those who celebrate; but for those who love, time is eternal.

I rather enjoy the idea of measuring time from sunrise to the middle of the day to sunset and beyond. There is a feeling of ease in this even though one might be busy. Think of those ancient times now behind us as depicted by William Blake:

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green:

For some, time seemed to speed up once digital time-pieces became common: time is measured to the very second! This gives the impression of there being no time to waste for it is now exactly 14:35.21. I regard analogue time as being friendlier: it is nearly twenty to three. Exact seconds and minutes don’t count. I will meet you at around three o’clock. This is why I prefer my current wristwatch to any digital ones I have owned before.

Roman numerals … they are commonly used on public clock faces. Do you know that many young people are unable to read Roman numerals anymore?

Church steeples in this country often have clocks in them – a fine way for townsfolk to tell the time without having to own a watch. The clock in our cathedral use to boom the quarter hours and hours. Then there were complaints about the noise keeping people awake at night, so the chiming stopped at around 6 p.m. Now the clock remains silent.

The clock on our Town Hall hasn’t told the correct time for years.

I have met a number of people who rely on their cell phones when checking the time – there is no longer a greatly felt need to wear a wrist watch. Long before then fob watches were used.

We could even return to a reliance on sundials.

https://www.thehoarde.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-garden-sundial