The other night we had a storm. Where I work, near Passavant Hospital in the North Hills, it only rained. In other parts of the North Hills, it stormed. But where I live, across the Allegheny river, in the East End, trees came down. As I got closer to my house, some houses were dark, some street lights were out, also some traffic lights. But on my street, the street lights were on, and most houses seemed to be lighted.
Now, after a storm, I don't have much rejiggering to do, as I don't have any digital clocks, as I don't wake up with an alarm. I have a clock in each room (I'm obsessed with what time it is unless I'm on vacation) but they are all on batteries. So the only clock that was messed up was my answering machine and it was messed up many storms ago. I haven't been able to figure it out so it matters not what day you call, or what time it is, the day will be wrong, and so will the time. So I will get a message that has the time stamp "Monday, eleven twenty one a.m." (That is the current time stamp, even though it is 7:23 a.m., Thursday.) I rely instead on my caller id to let me know when person A or person B left a message. Someday my sister will come back for a visit and she'll fix it, I'm sure.
The other thing that was messed up by the storm was the lamp in the hall that is on a timer. I tried to figure it out last night when I came back from my evening walk, but it was dark and I didn't have the patience for it. This morning when I woke up, I went downstairs to check something and the light was on. So I turned on the main hall light and figured out that the light's timer "thought" it was midnight. So I rejiggerd the timer to let the light know it was seven in the morning.
Sometimes after a storm, we need to be reset. I know I do. My inner clock is messed up. It was messed up by a recent storm, but like my answering machine, it really was messed up many storms ago.
Why else would I go out in the rain in my nightgown and house coat to see if someone's car was back, now that it's morning? (It's street cleaning day, so all the cars are parked on the other side of the street. I couldn't look out my window and see.)
I'm fretting.
I know I shouldn't.
But it's a long ingrained habit of mine, and habits don't go away overnight. I need someone to reset my clock.
I'm afraid, you see. Of being left behind. I have been, so many times before. Even if I'm the one doing the leaving, I still feel the loss. I didn't mean for anyone to leave anyone when we had our "storm" Sunday night. But like the capricious weather, other people can be unpredictable.
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The sun is breaking through the trees. It doesn't seem to even be drizzling. Perhaps I'll go on my morning walk.
2 years ago