Time

I walk around my favorite store, on a typical search for treasure.  I finger a pretty sweater and enjoy its autumnal shade of orange.  I leave it neatly folded on the table, knowing with certainty that even though it is lovely, it is not what I'm looking for.  I continue to meander, gazing at trinkets and baubles.  I am a faithful lover of anything vintage, an ardent swooner over anything boasting chipped paint.  My home and closet don't have many empty spaces in them.  I only buy what I absolutely love, what jumps out and speaks to me.  Today the merchandise is quiet.   What I am shopping for isn't there.  I walk past an old table, snubbing a charming necklace, ignoring a pretty green vase, barely appreciating the thread-bared edges of a tablecloth I'm sure would look lovely with my fall centerpiece.  I see treasures from the past that  beg to share their stories.  Today I am too distracted to listen.  The alarm on my cell phone rings, reminding me of the present.  Daily responsibilities that have never gone unfulfilled.  Places I must be for little people that depend on me. I leave the store, promising to come back when I am more attentive.  I am confused by my empty arms, because typically, I leave with a treasure.  A purchase not based on price, but about value and personal taste. Today, whatever I was searching for was not to be found.

Four days later, I recall that shopping experience.  At the end of a day of to-do's and to-be's, I have one final task.  I need to change all of our clocks.  It is "DayLight Savings", and there is no choice but to comply with the directive to set the clock back one hour. An extra hour... a gift. After I finished up with resetting the microwave (I never remember how to do it!) I settle onto my bed with my book.   I read for a few minutes, and as I lounge,  a pleasant feeling covers me.  It is a  blanket of peace, the scent of contentment hanging in the air around me.  I think to myself "This is IT! This is what I was looking for on my shopping trip! "  TIME.  Minutes that are not completely filled with things that need attention or energy.  Sometimes my heart is searching for something that cannot  be purchased at my favorite store.  What I was really needing that afternoon while I was wandering around was some TIME!!  I was so grateful to drink in that extra 60 minutes last night, knowing that although most of the USA was participating in daylight savings time right along with me, it felt more like a personal gift with MY name on the box.