Yesterday, I lost my wristwatch.
There’s nothing profound to the story. It’s a case of simple human mistake-making. This happens.
At some point, maybe five years ago, I stopped wearing a watch on a regular basis. Actually, it was more recent than that, come to think of it. After I moved to Baltimore. I had a Lord of the Rings watch, and the battery died. I had an XBox Live watch, and the battery died. I could have gotten the batteries replaced, and I didn’t. I found it was just as easy to go without a watch. Time isn’t something I concern myself with.
And, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t like the feel of the watchband on my wrist. The XBox Live watch was a nylon/velcro thing, and that was okay. A leather wristband, though, just felt weird.
But, a little more than a year ago, I got a Superman wristwatch. Black leather band, analog mechanism, a silver Superman shield on the face. I would wear it in the mornings on the train, then take it off at the office, then put it on when I left for the day, then take it off immediately when I got home.
Yesterday, going home, I took the watch off on the subway train.
The reason? I got drenched in the two blocks between the Light Rail stop and the Subway stop. The storms had to pick that exact moment to spew forth. When I got a seat on the subway car, I took off my baseball cap to air it out — and I took off my watch for the same reason.
When I got to Owings Mills, I put the baseball cap back on. I slung my bag over my shoulder. For whatever reason, I didn’t pick the watch back up.
I was halfway down off the subway platform (at Owings Mills, it’s on an elevated track) when I realized that I didn’t have my watch on. I ran back up the steps, dashed into the subway car, but the watch wasn’t on the seat where I’d been.
The watch was gone.
It’s not a great loss, honestly. It was a nice watch, but I’m fine without it. The watchband was dry and cracking in places. It also smelled, a distinctive smell, tangy like vinegar maybe.
I wore the Lord of the Rings watch today. I had the battery replaced in it last autumn. On the face is a map of Middle-Earth, circa the late Third Age, with only the number nine — represented with the Tengwar symbol — marked. It’s a nice watch; I’ve had it since 2003 or so.
Such is life.