The Fullness of Time: Marking the Day by Birdsong, Blooms, Shadows, and Stars

Debut author Haynes, an artist and Timekeeper in Residence at University of College London’s Petrie Museum, takes an immersive ramble through the “forgotten art” of telling time without a modern clock. Arguing that the modern “clock-bound and screen immersed existence” has unmoored people from the natural world, she describes learning to gauge the time by listening for specific morning birdsongs, watching flowers open at certain times of day, and even tracking the changing shape of sheep pupils (which become larger and more circular as dusk approaches and light dims). Also explored are medieval monastic sundials that track the movement of sun and shadow, and daily church bells that toll at specific hours. The author visits with people who keep traditional time-telling methods alive, recounting experiences like meeting the founder of the New Crescent Society, which is dedicated to sighting the crescent moon that starts the Islamic month. Throughout, she describes with wonder how attending to such traditions offers a link to “a much larger world” that most people have lost contact with—one that encompasses other people, nature, animals, and past generations’ lost knowledge. Suffused with curiosity and joy, it’s a lovely ode to the world’s forgotten rhythms. (Apr.)