A few of my favourite times
Literally
The clocks have changed! British Summer Time ends, changing the margins of the day. This offers a natural discussion point for an in-depth, poetically written article all about humans’ beautiful but complicated relationship with time.
However, I’ve been ill with a cold this week, so what I’ve chosen to write instead is … a list of my favourite times. I don’t mean my favourite memories or stories of special moments in life. I mean, literally, a list of my favourite times on the clock, in chronological order.1
I’ll bet you have some favourite times, too, but in case this is just me, please enjoy the weirdness of my brain. Oh, and I’d better state that, of course, usually, as an editor, I’d be putting all times into a consistent format, but because the look and sound of each individual time (whether written in words, o’clock, or in the 24-hour system) is an intrinsic part of why they’ve made my shortlist, I’ve intentionally used a mix of styles.
Six-fifty a.m. – this is the time I wake up if my body clock is left to its own inbuilt cogs. Always eerily exact to dead-on 06:50 without an alarm.
Half past nine – obviously, I hit the jackpot if someone asks me what the time is and it’s half past nine as I get to recite one of the world’s best poems: What’s the time? Half past nine. Hang your knickers on the line. When they’re dry, bring them in, put them in the biscuit tin! Eat some biscuits, eat some cake, eat your knickers by mistake!
10:15 – also nice as ‘ten fifteen’. A time of coffee, plans, hope, and expectation.
Twelve Noon – a full name among times. It’s not meant to have the capital letters, but in my mind, it’s a big character. Twelve Noon, pleased to meet you.
12:34 – one, two, three, four: nicely done twelve thirty-four.
16:01 – this is a time of day that lets you take what you need from it. Still lots to do? It’s only a minute past four. Having a hard day? It’s already a minute past four. Writing a list like this, I’ve had to ask myself why I like 16:01 better than 16:00, for which I don’t really have an answer. Just that it’s safely into the hour itself whilst still having pretty much a full hour to go.
Eight o’clock – not too early, not too late
22:22 – Two is my lucky number, so this time is like finding a four-leaf clover. Also, it looks very pleasing, doesn’t it?
I’ve not mentioned yet times that look great on the analogue clock. An obvious favourite is the full arm stretch of, for example, 11:25, as beautifully illustrated here by this great clock I saw in March 2020 – a day I remember as feeling very sunny and free, right before the pandemic hit.
It’s a clock on the Portsmouth Matalan, of all places. I looked it up again just now and the whole site is being regenerated but, fortunately, it looks like the clock is being saved – I can see it in the background of the artist’s impression for thegoodsyard.site
p.s. shout out on here to my friend Julian, who runs the excellent Clocks in Public account on Instagram – definitely give that a follow if you’re a time fan.
