Here at the marine station I have had to find other ways to structure my life. I don’t have a calling, or classes. My job is highly irregular. FHE doesn’t exist. There’s no institute, or Friday night campfires. There is far more unstructured time then I am use to. However there are a few things that are regular.
We eat every morning at 7 am. That means I get up a bit before that every day. No sleeping in on Sundays or Saturdays for to do so would cost you breakfast. Lunch is also fixed at 12 pm sharp. So even if you are out and about you will find your way back in time for lunch. Dinner comes at 5:30. The next most important factor in planning the day is the tides. If you need to collect clams, or intertidal critters, or go out on a boat, you need to wait for the tides to be just right. They change every day in magnitude and in time. If the tides are particularly low then class gets canceled. You put on your rubbers and head for the sea.
Since we are only here for 31 days (today is day 15) we have a lot of class work to do. But since we basically have no other fixed obligations classes filled the holes in the schedule rather than creating holes around them. So with breakfast and lunch fixed class becomes the time between breakfast and lunch. There is no bell to ring so you can keep going until you get tired. Having taught for 3 1/2 hours I have reached that point before. Then you dismiss and everyone goes about their way.
Saturdays are only mildly different. We usually do a field trip instead of class and the shift of lunch ladies changes. Other than that though there is very little that changes.
Each day is blending into the next. It is so tempting to step outside of time. To spend a morning wandering the woods, or walking by the sea or reading books that you haven’t touched in ages. Then you check your email and are reminded that the world outside is not turning based on the phases of the moon. Adventures continue, mountains are climbed, rivers crossed, babies born, degrees earned, friends married, funerals held. You too have deadlines dependent on more than the moon. Your membership in that other world still exists. You cannot fall completely into the cycle of the waves crashing upon the shore.
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