Timing the Morning Stretch

I wanted to wake up my joints with a gentle stretch, so I climbed onto the kitchen counter where a small wooden sand timer was resting beside a glass tea jar. Wrapping both hands around the smooth glass bulb, I gave it a steady hoist and flipped it upside down onto its circular pine base. A whisper-thin stream of white sand immediately began cascading through the narrow neck, piling into a tidy, rising cone below. Standing flat on the butcher block, I reached my arms high overhead and rolled my shoulders in rhythm with the quiet trickle. Watching the steady flow made the whole morning feel nicely unhurried.