Thursday, December 10, 2015

I came across this photo today when I was organizing some files. Before I finally said my last farewell to this watch  I had to snap a photo of it. For you see this watch is not just an ordinary watch; it is a story.

It begins with a great find with some retail cash a a major retailer in CA. Ultimately I spent about $5 on this watch. My Preschoolers loved it and I just about always wore it. If I forgot it, they asked about it.

Then it traveled with me to Papua New Guinea. There I met new friends in Ukarumpa orientation. Seeing this such bright yellow watch sparked the interest of my new friends' then 6 month old daughter. So I unstrapped it and let her at it. After a few days of class and a 6-month-old tasting and banging, the second hand rattled off the center post.

No worries, it kept my young friend entertained and it still kept time except when the second hand would get caught between the hour and minute hand. Still, not a big deal. Simply unstrap the watch and tap on the table until the second hand was loose in the case again.

I'm not sure when exactly it lost the clear-plastic-cover on the face, but it did. This solved the second-hand dilemma. Now the hour and minute hand were free to keep track of time.

Except when occasionally, something swiped by the yellow face, moving the time around.

Still, it was a bright lovely watch so I wore it to Buka, and Hiovabon in The Autonomous Region of Bougainville. There I had the exciting experience of getting wet when our outrigger canoe took on too much water. There rust began to form around the watch face and winding post. Incredible how salt water will do that.

Meanwhile back in Ukarumpa  my rusting bright yellow watch gave in to cracks pushed by the rust around the winding post. The watch looked like the photo does now. It happened while I was at the teacher's lunch table. A fellow teacher volunteered his son's glue and expertise to put it back together. Within a few days I found my beloved bright yellow watch in my mailbox nearly as good as new (minus a plastic case and second hand).

I enjoyed this watch through the end of October when it went on it's final adventure. I was biking home from a friend's house when I came to a speed bump at the bottom of a hill. I couldn't decide whether to brake of brace and I tried a bit of both. I ended up on the ground in front of the bike. Lucky for me I had a helmet and a family who came to my rescue. I wasn't thinking about my watch at the time, but it gives a new meaning to the phrase "time flying."

After a visit to the clinic and a night of rest, the father and son of that family brought over my damaged bike and a grocery bag containing my helmet and these watch fragments.

And that's when I decided it was time to saw farewell to the bright yellow story.

True story taking place from some time in 2011 through most of 2013

I kept trying to find the time on my empty wrist until my mom sent me a new watch for my birthday in February 2014. Thanks Mom!