From Mona’s desk: Losing, and finding, time

I’ve lost something. I’m told I will be able to find it in November. It’s time. It’s that hour lost when clocks are set ahead for Daylight Saving Time.

I did spend time this weekend changing the clocks in the house that don’t automatically switch. The alarm clock in the bedroom is always a challenge. The buttons are on the back. Trying to read the tiny print that identifies them then pressing them in the correct order is a task best done when one is not tired.

The computers, tablets and phones automatically change time. There’s a setting marked DST on the alarm clock that is supposed to make the change automatic but so far, I haven’t figured out how to use it.

It took me a few years but I finally got the hang of changing the clock in the car. It’s usually best if I press those buttons while not driving, but it’s always when I’m driving that I notice the time needs to be changed.

Sometimes I think I’ve lost more than an hour. There is never enough time to do what needs to be done, let alone what I want to be done. Come November when we switch the clocks back, I’ll still be looking for time.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could box it up and sit it on a shelf where we could get it later. I’d set it right next to the box where I could keep my mind, so when people tell me I’ve lost it, I could find it.

Resolutions are said to be for the beginning of the year but there should be spring resolutions. Spring feels more like the beginning of the year this year, even more so than New Years.

Officially the first day of spring is Saturday, March 20. This past weekend we had snow in the west and the cold rain everywhere else. Still, it feels like spring.

And it sounds like spring. I stepped outside the other day to hear some assertive robins singing loudly. It’s been a long winter for them as well, I think. A couple of them are back to their annual routine of fighting with themselves in the reflections of mirrors on parked cars. Plastic bags tied over the mirrors may be the order of the day until Robin Redbreast can find a girlfriend and settle down to nest-building.

After several days of cold and clouds, the forecast for Thursday and the next several days is sunny and warmer. Just think how quick the lawns and pastures will green up! I’m not sure if I even remember the warming of spring and the greening up of last year. This year, I’m going to find the time to enjoy it.