Annie Time

 

7:05 a.m. - the 13th century church down the street is tolling 35 times as it does at 7:05 morning and night. Why 34? Why 7:05? I don't know, but I like it.

I look at my Annie Clock as I snuggle in bed with my book Doppelganger by Naomi Klein. It pleases me we share the same viewpoint on Israel/Gaza even if the book was written before Oct. 7th.

I try and decide when to get up. Anytime between this minute and 9:00. 

Early mornings like this are some of the happiest times of the day. My husband and dog are with me, He, my husband not the dog, has brought me a bowl of tea. I'm reading, look at the paintings in the bedroom and, and, and, my Annie Clock, one of a kind made by an artist friend.

Her model for the clock was from a photo of a woman giving out hugs in the Geneva Old Town. My husband and I thought she looked just like Annie Young, my heroine in my Three Culture Kid Mystery series. https://dlnelsonwriter.com. 

Readers have asked if I'm the model for Annie. No, she's the person I would have liked to be with her NATURALLY red curly hair and linguistic ability. We do share a passion for history.

I plan my day, a balance between chores, meals, café sits, friends, dog cuddles and writing. Although it is September, it seems like yesterday was Easter and tomorrow it will be Christmas. 

11:23 a.m. I've finished this blog and need to post it on Substack. Lunch either at the Chinese buffet  or the restaurant on the way to the beach depending on rain, then back to my laptop to write emails as part of the novella Sugar and Spice that I'm working on.  

During the day, flashes from my past will inhabit my head. A quick glance in the mirror and I will no longer see a young woman. I've gone from looking like my mother to my grandmother and probably if I'd known her my great grandmother. I don't care. Unlike them I will wear jeans, t-shirts or sweatshirts and outlandish earrings because I want to. 

5:00 p.m. or 17h. Listen to www.democracynow.org and other news from various parts of the world. 

6:17 p.m. 18:17h As I sit at my laptop, I realize the day has gone as has so many others.  

I'm shocked regularly when someone mentions an event that seems like yesterday but was three decades ago.

My husband and I always eat lunch together, but we forage for an evening meal individually, maybe watch a movie. Maybe make some popcorn. Maybe read. Definitely chat.

Then it will be time to rejoin Annie who has measured out our day in soft ticks, ticks, ticks. She knows that I didn't do as much as I wanted and that my to-do list was not reasonable.

Still the day was a gift like so many that came before it.