Two of our clocks and all our computers and iPhones are self-setting thanks to the miracle of a radio-soaked civilization. The rest are all put right now. One only had to have the clock hands turned by tweaking a wheel with the finger--the old kitchen clock with the Gothic hands. It is almost hard to remember when every clock in my home had to be set by twisting a shaft.

In this rare day when we are resetting the counters of our lives, it is good to notice that we are proving our mastery of time itself, even though it is easy to fall into an automated slumber of blind compliance with the seconds and minutes we borrowed from our silly Moon and our spinning mudball of a planet. It is ours to say how it shall be counted and where it shall start.

Mom, I did the birdcage all clean. The birds appreciate it.

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