Kelly and I had a rare night alone last night, having shuffled Hallie off to a friend’s party and Travis off to a sleepover. We settled in on the couch to watch a movie, keeping an eye on the clock on the mantle so we could pick Hallie up from her party in time.
As the clock advanced to our 9:30 departure time, we increased the frequency of checking it, of course. I looked at it at 9:15, turned again to the TV, then checked the time again a few minutes later. It seemed that time was passing more slowly than I had expected but I thought little of it.
The movie was really engaging but I stole another look at the clock. It read 9:25. Wow, that seems like it should have been longer, I thought. The movie was really good, though, so I turned back to the TV.
At last, the clock read 9:30. Kelly and I dutifully switched off the TV and moved towards the garage. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the clock on the stove: It wasn’t 9:30, it was 10:05!
We raced out to the party to pick up Hallie thirty minutes late, apologizing profusely when we got there and offering our lame excuse. Then we dropped off her friend and returned home to bed. Earlier today, I moved the slow clock up to the current time and Kelly and I verified it.
For almost 12 hours now, the clock has kept accurate time. And before our movie began yesterday, the clock was keeping accurate time. For some strange reason from 9 PM to 9:30 PM, the clock was moving about half as fast as it normally does. Neither Kelly nor I can determine why. It was just odd.