It's been a year. But that's all it has been.
Factors affecting the amount of time that the hourglass measures include: the volume of sand, the size and angle of the bulbs, the width of the neck, and the type and quality of the sand. Alternatives to sand that have been used are powdered eggshell and powdered marble.
When the sand has all run out, some obstinate grains yet stick on, deliberately oblivious of what the world outside wants them to do. And the world, in turn, ignores them, the only remnants of what once was Time. The world has to but flip the hourglass, and Time shall return; but the grain's world turns upside down.
Ordinary sundials do not correct apparent solar time to clock time. There is a 15 minute variation through the year, known as the equation of time, because the Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical and its axis is tilted relative to the plane of its orbit.
When the Sun shall set, the Night shall return. Cloudless, moonlit, cool as I remember you. Or so I dream, on a humid summer afternoon.
Nothing is perfect. Yet we seek symmetry. So a hexagon is better than a pentagon, a 100 is better than a 90, and a full year is an excuse to write crap.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
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