I had wallowed the bed down most of the night so when the clock on the nightstand flipped to 4:00 a.m. I figured it was near enough to morning to get up. Spring thunderstorms had kept me awake and I was bone tired.
I stumbled into the kitchen for my morning routine. I fed Ray a scoop of dry dog food, made the coffee, and began making my breakfast. Pancakes seemed an appropriate treat for the restless night I’d put in. As I pulled the eggs from my refrigerator, I happened to glance at the clock on the wall. Strangely enough, the hands pointed to 3:10. I looked at the clock on microwave, and it said the same thing. What in the world—my alarm clock!
My old bedside digital clock was one of those made to spring automatically forward and fall back each year on the appropriate Daylight Savings Time Sunday, but a few years ago the lawmakers voted to increase the time frame and my clock has been mixed up ever since. Yet this morning—weeks after the official time change when I’d set it ahead manually—the clock sprung forward on its own another hour!
Too far into breakfast to head back to bed, I poured the pancake batter into the frying pan and wondered if my coffee had brewed yet. It was 3:15. I glanced over and I hadn’t even shut the lid of the coffee maker. I reached over, closed the lid, and almost pushed the power button when I sensed something wasn’t right. Better check those coffee grounds, said the sleepy voice inside my head. I lifted the lid and low and behold, there was a filter full of Ray’s Science Diet dog food.
At 3:23 a.m. sitting in front of pancakes, maple syrup, and fresh brewed Dunkin Donut coffee, I began to question my sanity. I attributed my condition to lack of sleep instead of lunacy, but I resolved to be ever mindful anytime I am feeding Ray and making coffee. And the clock? It should make a fine addition to the county dump.