SF0 / roadscholar / Sundial I

15 + 65 points

Sundial I by Road Scholar

October 4th, 2010 9:14 PM

INSTRUCTIONS: Make a sundial. Use it!

Welcome again, gentle reader, I am the Road Scholar, your humble guide to all things urbane to the Urban, and germane to Main street.

Thus far I have endeavored to shed some light on the birth and development of cones. We began in the steamy rainforest, a metaphorical cradle which still literally serves as such to at least an indigenous pygmy people. Then the exploration and conception of the neighborhood and upbringing of our young, as bright minds converge on a sense of belonging in a place most needing of their presence. For most, the tale might seem to end here. Growth and the search for function and place is canonically conical. But as your scholar Nietzshe said

"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
-- Friedrich Nietzshe

Our culture is rich with the celebration of non-standard lifestyles. We adulate the virtues of function dictating form, but it would by folly to believe we aspire to uniformity. Adolescent defiance follows a similar pattern to humans, in that outward appearance is the first manifested sign of individuation.

As a scholar I treasure primary sources, and would not think to muddle history with self-important blather. What follows is the explanation from a particularly fierce adherent to an alternative calling among the conic community, chosen for his lifelong pursuit of what you would call Chrononautics. So by way of introduction only, he tells me that in his adolescence the... alterations made to his person were considered abhorrent, and even grotesque by the more sheltered workers in his community. Today, he is celebrated by a community in awe of his pioneering vision, with many since building upon his work with modern methods and innovations.

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Each hole I cut into my side has a corresponding hole cut through the other side of me. My 8:00am entrance hole has an 8:00am exit hole on the other side. At 8:00am the sun shines through this entrance hole, and out the exit hole and lands on a stone placed on the ground with the time (8:00am) written on its back.

At 8:00am sun shines through all of the morning entrance holes, but I only have one 8:00am exit hole to let the light back out.

My design is not absolutely perfect, and there are a couple occasions during any season (right now about 6:00pm) where light entering my entrances hole escapes from some other exit hole, which is why I started carrying the stones around with me. There is only one 6:00pm stone on the ground. And that 6:00pm stone will be the only stone with a slash of sunlight across it.

I really only work as a sundial every half hour. You should see how precise some kids today can get it. But the nice thing is (if you're clever), you will notice that the sun takes about fifteen minutes to fully leave one hole and find another. Which means at 8:15am, the light from the 8:00am hole will still be visible somewhere between the 8:00am rock and the 8:30am rock. The same is true for the light coming through the 8:30am hole. So I still feel pretty happy any time on a sunny day.

I don't speak human. That has been a problem a few times. But I got pretty lucky with this idea. I have been understood and used by all kinds of people who get lost in the desert and should happen to stumble across me. Which is pretty funny to me, when back when I started cutting myself, most upright cones wouldn't give me the time of day.

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This has been the Road Scholar, reminding you to watch your step, mind the gap, and when your find yourself on that grand road of life; take it slow.

- smaller

Sundial 1