Monday, November 24, 2008

LIFE WITHOUT A CLOCK

I've gotten to the point in life where clocks and watches are unnecessary. There are "happenings" or sounds all around that give me a pretty good idea of what time it is without looking at the clock.

2:30 a.m. I can hear Amtrack blowing through Cowtown headed north to Seattle.

3:30 a.m. The whistle of the south bound Amtrack for L.A. tells me to stop listening for passing trains and go back to sleep.

4:30 a.m. The WSJ and the Sacramento Bee hits the driveway pavement. The carriers noisy foreign car past its prime chugs up and down the street.

6:00 a.m. The Cowtown news is delivered by a guy driving a Ford Ranger. There's something about the sound of an American truck that puts me to sleep.

6:30 a.m. Zeenie, who is crated every night, starts to make sounds that she needs to get up. The sounds she makes are interesting ones to get my attention. She starts a low pitched growl that goes up several octaves . . . almost like she's talking or communicating. Well, I guess she is . . . the girl has to take a leak and wants out of her crate.

7:35 a.m. Mommies pass by the house with kids loaded into mommy vans on the way to the school bus stop a block down the street.

8:00 a.m. The whistle on the iron and metal factory in town sounds.

8:30 a.m. The school bus of a neighboring district passes by the house on its way to pick up kids around the corner.

Noon: The dogs let me know that it's time for their lunch.

2:15 p.m. Wifey walks to the bus stop to pick up Grace.

3:15 p.m. Grace has finished her homework and heads out the door to play with the dogs.

4:00 p.m. The neighboring school district school bus passes by with kids on their way home.

4:30 p.m. Grace comes to me and says, "Isn't it time to watch Tom and Jerry?" And we do.

5:30 p.m. Grace's mom picks her up.

6:00 p.m. The dog start pacing and looking hungry. They know that it's time for their dinner. I know that's time for my dinner, too. We all eat together (but not at the same table).

8:00 p.m. Zeenie gets that look in her eye that she wants to play ball before bed. We wrestle. I toss the ball. Zeen brings it back. I hide the ball. She finds it. It's a nightly ritual.

8:30 p.m. I'm starting to wonder why the hell I spent half the night listening for trains so I'd know what time it was. How stupid is that? I usually promise myself that I'll never do that again but end up listening for the trains anyway. Yes, that's stupid.

10:30 p.m. The next door neighbor puts their dog out for one last time before they hit the sack.

I always know what time it is without looking at a clock. So who needs a clock anyway? I am living without watching time and loving it.

Know what I need? A good night's sleep and to rid myself of the habit of telling time by sounds and events.


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3 comments:

La Roo said...

Bob, you have to much time on your hands.


oowww bad one, huh? :)

Jessi said...

If I were woken up that many times in a night, I'd be GRUUUMPY!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Bob! Can't wait for the food pictures!

Anonymous said...

My favorite vacations are rustic ones, without clocks, computers, phones... no place to be but the present moment.

I love the timeline of your day. It's very amusing. I may try to write one of those for me. Check out my blog. It may show up there one of these days.

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