Clock that is never right

For many years my brother and father worked together.  In a garage.  And in the heat of North Louisiana.  Together they established a practice of taking a lunch break, usually at home, to enjoy the air conditioned environment.  This practice expanded to include watching a soap opera.  So for years they would come home, eat lunch, watch a soap opera and squeeze in a quick nap.  And for those years my mother would send them on their way at the appointed time.

And time passed.  Eventually my father and brother ended up at my house for the same ritual.  Air con'd environment, lunch, soap opera and nap.  But with a new twist.  Because I may or may not have been there during lunch, a small alarm clock was set to go off, reminding them or more to the point awakening them to return to work.  And with the passage of time, and the life of my father, my brother and I continue the practice most days.  My brother will come to my house for lunch, we will eat, and watch a show, the soap opera's demise has limited our viewing, and commonly we will fall into a nap.  Occasionally, I am not there, but my brother still comes to my house to visit with my dog.

But the clock has fallen into disuse.  It is actually a great clock.  Small. Loud. and difficult to change the time.  The alarm time is easily changed, but the time, that is another story.  So here it is in the middle of summer and the time is incorrect.  And it is not even right twice a day!  It is on Central Standard time.  Not Daylight savings time.  I would love to tell you that it is a protest of my distaste of DST, but it is actually because it is so difficult to change the time.  The upside is you can't accidentally change the time, but the downside is that this clock won't be right until November.

So for the next couple of months, there is no time when this clock will be correct.  I haven't moved it from its prominent place on the mantle.  We don't use it to judge when it is time to leave or return to work.  And because it is more functional than artistic, it isn't even ascetic to keep it on the mantle.  It is  a clock with no purpose.  Until later.  And I am willing to wait it out.