I love the watch. I used to drive a pickup, a Mazda B2000. I *loved* my truck; it’s one of those vehicles I just bonded with. We went on many a trip together, me and my truck and my dog. The clock in the truck ran of its own accord – it was not consistently off, like you couldn’t say, OK, the clock is 2 hours ahead, so the true time is X. It just had random times on it. I loved that, and my friends and I said we were on “truckie time”. In those days, it was really OK. I’m working towards that again, with radically unschooling my boys – we’re on soul time. Now. Being a single mom, I do have a j-o-b, but I’m working towards doing my own thing in my own time – back to truckie time! Be Here Now was the first book I read, lo those many years ago, that introduced me to the concept – and changed my life in the process.

“Be Here Now” was my introduction to Now, too, Caren. After Katrina I wrote a song which appears on a Jimmy Buffett album called “Take the Weather With You.” I’m really not pitching the album, but I do like this song.
The watch pictured here is the perfect illustration for that song. It says:
I bought a cheap watch from the crazy man
Over on Canal
It doesn’t have numbers or moving hands
It always just says Now
Now you may be thinking that I was had
But this watch is never wrong
And if I have trouble the warranty said
Breathe in, breathe out, move on

And it rained
Nothing really new
And it blew
Seen all that before
And it poured
The earth began to strain
Pontchartrain
Leaking through the door
And through the floor

If a hurricane doesn’t leave you dead
It will make you strong
Don’t try to explain it, just nod your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on

And it rained
Nothing really new
And it blew
Seen all that before
And it poured
The earth began to strain
Pontchartrain
Buried the ninth ward
To the second floor

According to my watch the time is Now
The past is dead and gone
Don’t try to shake it, just nod your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on
Don’t try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on – End

(It’s terribly conceited of me to post my humble words here where so many wonderful real poems appear – esp. the transcendant work of Naomi Shihab Nye whom I discovered recently on this site. This is my first post here, but 37 days has been a regular part of my days for a few months now. I learn more useful things here – see more interesting things here – and find more of what I’m looking for here – than anywhere else on the net. I can say that quite honestly. Many thanks to Patricia.)