For reasons of which I am uncertain – if indeed there is anything especially abstruse about the decision – we’ve lately committed ourselves to retiring no later than 10:00 pm. No doubt the less than perplexing election was moderately prompted by the current wash of attention to record-keeping and accounting arising from the likes of Apple Watch whereby the manufacturers have created a seeming imperative to note every footstep, heartbeat and kilometre in order to legitimize their particular device.  One of the functions is a pre-set bedtime and, I presume, arising, the overall theme being that eight hours of sleep each night at the same time is a good thing.

With the Sleep app on Apple Watch, you can create bedtime schedules to help you meet your sleep goals. Wear your watch to bed, and Apple Watch can track your sleep. When you wake up, open the Sleep app to learn how much sleep you got and see your sleep trends over the past 14 days.

I do not use that function myself; but I have obviously succumbed to the innuendo. Nor by the way do I dispel the virtue of Apple Watch because of this or any other of its “toy” features. Certainly the Apple Watch and iPhone are directed in large part to the amusement of its younger audience.  The digestible allure of such technological expense is a far cry from whatever ambition once circulated about the desire for a Rolex watch for example. Yet pointedly I no longer wear a Rolex nor a Tag Heuer nor a Bulova watch nor – as James Bond so manifestly promoted – an Omega.  What I like about my more pedestrian Apple Watch is that, if my iPhone rings in my pocket, I hear it on my Apple Watch and it thus spares me the annoyance of a missed call or having to retrieve a voice message.  I can also tell it (Apple Watch) to set an alarm without having to locate or retrieve my iPhone or – even more disrupting – having to type or select a time. Like so many technological advances I was initially reluctant to adopt the utility much less the necessity of an Apple Watch which dismissive people like I characterized as either redundant or repetitious. Now, however, if I happen to withdraw from the apartment without my Apple Watch, I make a sudden retreat to remove it from its plastic charging globe and strap it on. One wonders how far we are from implanted microchips?

Sorry, this is a meandering babble far removed from my intended comment upon a Sunday retreat.  What I meant to suggest from the outset is that I arose promptly at eight o’clock this morning (granted somewhat longer than the recommended eight hours), decidedly refreshed – and, more importantly, happily resolved to withdraw from beneath the duvet.  I won’t say that I was exactly booms-a-daisy or that I had a springtime bounce in my step, but the draw of slumber was patently over. The predominantly encouraging element of such relatively early arousal was that the entire day was before me.  Plus it was a superb day, albeit chilly, but relentless sunshine. The blue though limpid sky (I actually prefer occasional clouds) was a promise of openness.  And the cold air ensured the roads were dry for our subsequent cycle of about (or should I say, exactly, grâce à Monsieur Apple Watch) 5.25Km.

Without engaging in the vulgarity of comparison, I will admit that my overall gusto this morning was somewhat less than it has been on other occasions. The human mind and the corpus in which it lives are seldom descriptive of identical evolution.  One day, it’s all up and away; another, it is restrained by competing anxiety howsoever inadequate.  It’s likely the same reason things taste different on different days even though the concoction is reputedly the same. No matter.  It is axiomatic that no two days are the same; nor would we want them to be since otherwise there would be a lapse of distinction and celebrity.

Grappling with certain paradigms can be a challenge. I dilute the strength of the contest by reminding myself that we’re all looking at the same world so it is only a matter of perspective more so than precision.  Notwithstanding that PhDs and other “educated” people may have a different language by which to describe the view, it is critical to remember that we’re all looking at the same thing and no matter how arcane one may wish to render the description, it doesn’t change what we’re all seeing. I mention this for two reasons; 1) the collision of amateur and polished investors recently gives pause for explanation of how clever one really is; and 2) nobody has yet accurately explained why Donald J. Trump got as many votes as he did. Add to this the confusion and shock surrounding the so-called QAnon disciples! And the incomprehensible devotion of Republicans to a succession of outright lies! To me certain things are intolerable; but when they are touted so freely I have to wonder what I’m missing.