Customers at the Stephenville Post Office on North Graham Street can watch their lives rapidly slipping away while they stand in line before the windows. A prominently displayed digital clock with six inch tall red numerals, spins off the seconds of your life while you watch. Sometimes, if the line is really long, you can watch the seconds turn into minutes several times. On the other hand when traffic in front of the post office is stopped in both directions because the rear end of somebody's Suburban is sticking out in the south bound lane, you have to blink your eyes to see if it's already tomorrow.

I try awful hard not to see that clock with its flickering number board but it's sorta like trying not to stare at an individual with a ring in his nose. The whole thing is a little repusive but still fascinating to look at. Still that clock in the post office has made me do a lot of thinking about stuff that I would just normally take for granted.

For instance it seems like it was just yesterday that we had 365 days left to enjoy in 1999. With the brand new year came all those giddy promises we made to ourselves to shape up. Now, thanks to that damnable ribbon of flashing numerals stuck up there in the post office for everybody to study, time is just flying by! We only have 222 days left to get crackin'. Well actually 221 days because the post office is closed on Sunday and so tomorrow morning we will have 221 days 16 hours 25 minutes and 5 seconds left in the year when we get in line to buy stamps! Oh my, oh goodness me, only 221 days left and we haven't got ANYTHING done yet!

Well, actually we have done a few little things like celebrate another birthday, visit my sister, welcome two new great-grandbabies, cook about 400 meals, clean around 180 rooms, fill two dog dishes and water bowls a total of 286 times, refill bird feeders 143 times, drive about 2000 miles, research and write 80 some odd articles, attend at least 100 meetings and dinners.......Hey, I need to lie down somewhere.

And I forgot to mention all the pages I have read and the new people I've met. Come to think of it, this has been a pretty rewarding 143 days. Every day is crammed full of stuff to do and stuff you want to do so there is a little bit of work and a little bit of play for everybody who's alive. That clock in the post office isn't so bad after all. It is a reminder that we are not getting ready to live but are living all the time, every second of every minute of every hour of every day. The days roll together to make weeks and months and then the year is gone. It's the year 2000 and our lives go on just as they have before.

This is the time of the year when young people graduate from public school and college, when couples stand before witnesses and pledge to live the rest of their lives together. For many, it is a time for new beginnings. New beginnings come naturally now when the world is so lovely. In late spring, we Texans live in a world of breath-taking beauty. The rainbow colors of wildflowers continue to delight the eyes along our roadsides. The sun is warm. The grass is green. The birds are singing. There is much to enjoy and be thankful for.