From The Storyteller

July 31, 2017, Clocks

“Hey Teddy – which is the big hand?” First grade and we are learning to tell time from a clock on the wall. He whispers - “The long skinny one.” Trusting Teddy, I volunteer his answer and immediately embarrass myself before the whole class. Two new thoughts – one, the short fat one is the big hand and – two, don’t trust Teddy Riggs for good answers.

Whoever came up with the big hand - little hand rule never saw the clock on the wall of my first grade classroom. My instinct told me this is one battle I was not going to win, so from that day forward the clock hand rule was accepted as true.

Over time, telling time has changed. The digital clock with no hands became the rule. Some no bigger than a quarter displaying time, day, and date. There is the Atomic Clock which somehow connects the clock on my wall to a super clock in Colorado. This summer I discovered yet another change. The time display on my phone updated automatically when I enter a new time zone.

Realization – all these changes took place without my permission.  In fact I didn’t even think about them until the time zone thing. It dawned on me that I take so many of life’s changes for granted that I miss out on the mystery, joy, and appreciation of what is right before me. The fact that my phone knew I drove out of Texas and into New Mexico is not small thing. The amount of human effort that went into making it a reality is more than I can even imagine.

I wonder if Teddy Riggs had anything to do with the phone thing.
Moral – When we take things for granted we miss out on much of the flavor life has to offer