Is There a Conservation of Time Law?

Why am I here? I guess that’s the question that needs to be taken off the shelf, dusted, and examined a bit before being put back in its place. It might even be a good idea to attend to such matters on a regular basis. Perhaps the task should get added to the chore chart. It could get listed under “Sunday” and get done right after I use a dry erase marker to put a dot next to “Water the plants.”

Then again, it might make more sense to attend to the question each day. “Ask: ‘Why am I here?’” could get printed up in each column, right underneath “Bathroom maintenance.” After swishing all the toilets and wiping down all the sinks, I could pause and make the inquiry.

Time moves in funny ways these days. It’s almost as if the back of the atomic clock got opened so a hand could slip in a tiny magnet that would make the minute digits erratically jump from one number to another every now and again, and in random kitchens all over the world, people check the time, scratch their heads, shrug their shoulders, and say, “No wonder I’m so hungry.”

We think of time as marching forward, but the faces of most clocks are round and their hands turn in endless circles.

We start new projects with all the enthusiasm of a toddler who has discovered the joy of jumping, but before we know it, the details of keeping body and soul together and the keeping up with the Joneses (Kardashians?) have us stumbling upon those long-ago starts and exclaiming, “Oh! I remember that.”