big dog’s backyard hour 5:
groundhog hour again.
time is relative.
right now the hours between starts are flying past,
because i have stuff to do between the bells and whistles.
so it seems like i am always rushing to fit it in.
then the minute spent watching the seconds tick off before the next whistle passes sooooo slow.
because i am standing there staring at the clock.
between the one whistle and the bell the speed picks up again.
because there are checkpoints at 30 and 15 seconds
before the 10 second countdown to “happy time!”
funny that it is the opposite for the runners.
the lap passes in a leisurely manner.
everyone has their checkpoints along the way.
this tree, that rock fence,
at each checkpoint they can tell you within seconds what their lap time will be.
for the athlete the whistles are a different matter.
the elite of backyard have made a science out of the countdown.
at each of the whistles there is a specific part of the routine of getting ready to go back out.
and we are not talking about a loosey goosey routine.
they have to finish within the 5 seconds between 15 and 10.
those whistles seem like they are piled on top of each other…
and god help me if i am not on top of the whistle at exactly 3 minutes to bell.
any delay at all messes up everything!
at this point there is always someone who is thinking;
“why the hell not automate it?”
that is crazy talk.
game time is supposed to involve pressure.
without the challenge of getting every whistle and bell exactly on time,
what fun would there be?
