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Not to sound too profound — but what is time, anyway?
By Gary | June 2, 2008
I've been doing some reading on the Internet about time and timekeeping, specifically trying to discover what I can about how they told time or kept track of time in pre-modern days. In my case, I have another blog related to "Life in the Old West," and I've been reading about local time zones and standardizing times zones throughout the U.S., especially in the Old West.
Is that nerdy enough for you? No, I don't do old west or Civil War reenactments. And I've never personally seen or worn Renaissance costumes (though I live near a city that holds a famous Renaissance Days event every year).
But I am fascinated about history, about the past, and about everything related to past, present, and other "time" concepts.
I've pretty much concluded that "time" is whatever we make it. Before the railroads in the U.S. and Canada agreed to standardize time into four convenient zones for North America, there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of "times" in most towns and villages. If you were traveling far, you really pretty much had to set your watch or clock by the local time where you stopped for the night to know what time it was. In simplest terms, local clocks were set by "high noon" reckoning and went from there each day.
So, time is what you make of it. How are you using your day, your time, to create value in your life and the lives of others?
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Topics: History |