Roads to Joy

I had a little epiphany yesterday late afternoon, as darkness fell. As you walk down the road towards New Galloway’s Town Hall, you can see two clock faces, and they’ve been lit since the clock was repaired. Before that happy event, I was up in the tower helping to clear countless years worth of jackdaw nests, endless twigs, and that experience of helping out was quite salutary.

But when I ventured down one evening for a Tai Chi session, I noticed that the other two faces were dark; why couldn’t the clock tower tell the time to all four points of the compass? On another quick foray up into the clock room, I discovered why: four fluorescent bulbs were clearly burnt out, black ends evincing their demise.

I do like things to work as they should, so I made enquiries about replacing the bulbs. Eventually, the response came back to me. Well, can you do the job yourself? Yes, most definitely, I had to smile, and after I sourced the bulbs at the local hardware shop in Castle Douglas, I was ready for the challenge.

It must have taken all of fifteen minutes to replace the four bulbs, and I scooted back down the ladder feeling very self-righteous, but still not requited. Since the lights are controlled by a light sensor to come on only in darkness, I couldn’t be sure that my exercise had been successful.

Until I scurried down the road yesterday afternoon to check them out.

Being part of a community often feels like the answer to the question: what’s life about then? I imagine that every time I clock ‘my two faces’ over the next few years, I shall experience a little fillip of joy. And that’s rather a good return for such a minimal investment of time and effort.