Carol asked me how many watches I have. I didn't have an actual count, so I told her, "A lot." She laughed. I smiled and shrugged. I like novelty watches, and it's actually just as cheap to buy new ones than it is to have batteries replaced in the old ones. I can remember when watches didn't have batteries. You wound them up. You didn't need a jeweler because winding up a watch is as easy as walking. It doesn't take any deep thought to it. Pinching the stem between your thumb and the side of your index finger, you pull it gently out and twirl it till it's set where you want it. You push the stem back in and then wind it up. I like wind-up watches. I prefer wind-up watches. They don't make wind-up watches anymore. Bummer.

I can remember the first watch that I actually owned. It was a Timex. A little on the ugly side too. At least, by today's standards. It was plain faced, gray band and you could hear it ticking if you were sitting quietly. It lasted for over six years. I got it in sixth grade, and grew tired of it, so I sold it at a yard sale. For all I know, it is true to the old addage and is probably still ticking its little heart out. I almost miss it. Almost. My grandma got it for me, using S&H Green Stamps. I even helped her lick the stamps and put them in the book. The S&H Green Stamp Store was in downtown Cincinnati, and we had to ride the bus to get there. While there we ate lunch at the lunch counter at the five and dime. My grandma made it fun.

Now, you don't even think about buying a watch. It's no big deal, and it certainly isn't something that you make a fuss over. You don't go downtown or have lunch, you don't ride a bus downtown, and you don't use S&H Green Stamps to buy one. The most you do is stand at the department store display and decide which one catches your fancy. You get it, go to the counter, pay for it, then leave. You even wait until you get home to try it on.

I look at my watches and think about things from my past. I wear one of my six frog watches and think about who gave it to me, and how the kids I work with like one more than another and ask me to open it so they can see the dragonfly circling. Or they want me to move my wrist back and forth so the pink frog watch will change pictures. They look at me with amusement when I tell them I use to have a Kool-Aide winky cup that did the same thing.

I wear one of the pendant watches to church and try not to be too obvious when I look at the time while the pastor is preaching. It is easy to do when I am wearing a wrist watch, but most difficult when it's the pendant one. At least I don't have an alarm on mine. Not that that would bother the pastor. Each Sunday, at least four of them go off in a five minute period. Either they aren't picked up by his hearing aid, or he is just very good at ignoring them.

I do have a lot of watches. I am not sure why. Maybe one day I will actually sit down and count them all. I might even throw away the ones that no longer work. The ones that new batteries can't help. Who knows, maybe time really does run out, and that is why I have so many watches. Maybe my subconscious is telling me that if I have enough of them, I won't run out of time to measure. And maybe, maybe it's nothing more than wanting more time on my hands to do the important things in life that everyone talks about, but never get around to doing them.