King's Daughter's Kitchen

Playtime is when I can be oblivious to time. It’s true that God created day and night. He gave man free choice to move peacefully within their natural boundaries. It’s also true that hours, minutes, seconds, and constant, atomic clocks are the invention of man. Man-made time measurements suck joy out of God’s peaceful, quiet nights and beautiful days.

My husband was obsessed with time. He collected clocks. My son and I packed the house to move me closer to our family two weeks ago. I counted twenty-six clocks going to consignment. I wore a watch until I retired from teaching. Then, I took it off and put it away in a drawer for good.

On a timeless Playday, I usually get up, get coffee, go out on the town, and deliberately wander. I might go to the used book shop, the antique loft, the Vietnamese or Natural Foods Market, the park, the Christian book store, the art supply place, or the hospital to visit church or neighborhood friends. Sometimes, I get invited to just hang out on somebody’s porch awhile.

For me, Playtime is forgetting what’s  necessary and enjoying what’s small, good, and often overlooked. Little birds, flowers, sounds, children… Conversation about nothing in particular… I enjoy chatting about whatever while waiting, unhurried for a fish taco at the truck downtown. Knowing the name of my baker friend at the Panadería, he who makes the cannoli or cuernos de la abundancia when I visit, helps make a memory instead of an errand. If I ran a Playday with a clock, I would miss my connections instead of catching them. The absence of time as a bossy guardian makes me more self-aware and conscious of the presence of joy in world.