sun dial

My desk is a gratuitously large piece of furniture positioned in front of my bedroom windows. The two windows are very much like the desk in that whilst they are impressive in size, their design can only be described as simple and practical. From where I sit at my desk, I have a full view of our neighbour's backyard and the position of  the sun. 

Something which always overwhelms me is sitting at my desk for a long enough period of time to observe the gradual path of the sun across the sky (or the rotation of the earth around its axis if you want to be astronomically correct). In the mornings, the sun is positioned at the top right corner of the window on the right. As the day progresses, it travels west until it disappears past the top left corner of the window on the left. The 40cm section of wall between the two windows is a good indicator for time of day, as the sun is directly behind this region at noon. For as long as the sun is in the right window, eating breakfast foods is nothing to be ashamed of, and when the sun is in the left window, it's time to do some work if nothing has yet been accomplished.

On days where I am working towards a deadline, this awareness of the sun's position is a constant reminder of the hours remaining in the day and is thus a motivator to work more efficiently (like Monday for example when I had to learn half a semester's worth of chemistry in one day). But on relaxing days when I am just procrastinating away on my computer, the sun's position will intermittently scream "THE EPHEMERALITY OF LIFE MY NAIVE CHILD!" to my face in the form of violent beams of sunshine. Some philosophical thought on my behalf generally ensues. 


(I can't remember the source of the picture...)