That song was released while I was in high school. It has always been one of my favorites. Another song from that era is “Image of the Girl I long to Find”.
Both songs dealt with time. At the time, I was proudly wearing the wrist watch my parents gave me as a high school graduation present.
For many years I left the clock control my life. Then I became a fan of The Association. I couldn’t find the song I wanted to share with everyone on Youtube. It was called, “Time for Living.”
As I recall, some of the words included…
“I took off my watch and found I had all the time in the world.”
I haven’t worn a watch since then.
For a few years after my divorce, I lived alone. I had two clocks in my home. One was a clock radio so I wouldn’t be late for work. The other was an electronic clock I kept in the kitchen. I’m not sure why.
I vaguely recall a saying; and I obviously don’t remember who said it. It went like this. “A man with one clock always knows what time it is. A man with two clocks is never quite sure.”
Just before I remarried and Lu moved in with me, a man I worked for decided to show his appreciation for my efforts by presenting me with a clock. I politely thanked him, but inwardly wandered how I could dispose of it. The two clocks I owned were already one more than I needed.
Then, when Lu and I tied the knot, one of my old managers from IBM gave me this beautiful clock,
A unique time piece
It was then I remembered I had another old timepiece packed away somewhere. I looked in a number of boxes and found it.
A Steelers clock doesn't have to show the correct time.
I keep it hung on my wall to remind people that I’m a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
At our wedding, Lu’s father, sister, and brother-in-law gave us another time piece.
Westminster Chimes and all!
Shortly thereafter, Lu and I moved into our new home. The new home included a stove with a built-in clock, a microwave over with a built-in clock, and a radio wtih a built-in clock.
I was thrilled.
Did you sense my excitement in that statement?
Perhaps I should have included an exclamation point or two.
Suddenly, the change over to Daily Savings Time and back became a pain in the posterier.
But not to worry, we replaced my clock radio with one that automatically reset itself. In fact, we liked that so much that we bought a second one so when my snoring drove Lu to a bed in another room, she could still be awakened to go to work.
Then along came Congress and changed the beginning and end dates for Daylight Savings Time. Now, those two ‘automatic” clocks reset themselves on the old dates. That means that four times a year, I have to reset them. The only way I can make them be correct for a while is to fool them into thinking we’re in a different time zone.
Obviously, the line of Simon and Garfunkel’s song that is meaningful to me is, “Time, see what’s become of me!”
I’ll be glad when Lu and I can both retire and we can donate all those clocks to the church’s yard sale.
Life was so much simpler when I had a mother to remind me what time it was.
