Cathy Haynes: Marking Time

Start the festival day with former Time Keeper in Residence at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, Cathy Haynes as she goes in search of those patterns that once shaped the rhythm of our days. Today, in our clock-bound, screen-immersed world, most of us rely on machines to mark the hours. But what riches might we gain from reclaiming the forgotten art of marking time through signs in the world around us – from the slow sliding of sunbeams to the wheeling of the stars? Past generations would tell time by shadows shrinking, the midday glow over a mountaintop, the crowing of the rooster in the darkness. They noticed the flowers that close at noon, sensed how the quality of light changes at dusk, and marked time at night by the motion of the stars. Take some time to discover the simple, sensory joys of truly paying attention.

Book: The Fullness of Time – Marking the day by Birdsong, Blooms, Shadows and Stars, Bloomsbury Publishing