8:07

It’s 7:42 in the morning, Saturday, April 3rd.

I am reading about the web of a pumpkin spider that Jim Carroll ruined when all he wanted to do was touch it.

He probably didn’t destroy the web of a pumpkin spider at 7:42, but it’s almost for certain that the pumpkin spider was weaving his web at 7:42 on a Saturday. And on a Sunday, and a Monday, too.

At 7:42 in the morning on Saturday, Thomas Jefferson probably did many things, but we cannot say what they were. But we can always guess. He might have thought some great things at 7:42, he might have sipped tea and nibbled on corn bread, and he might have made a slurping sound sipping tea and nibbling on corn bread at 7:42.

Before him, Alexander the Great probably didn’t wake up at 7:42 in the morning on Saturdays. He was probably wide awake by 7:42. He might have been walking his dog. He might have been saying καλό παιδί! καλό παιδ! or: “Good Boy! Good Boy!” at 7:42 on Saturday. 7:42 was no doubt the favorite part of the day for Alexander the Great.

We can guess about all of this, and it’s fun, but we are left with nothing. But it is a very nice nothing. We will never really know about Thomas Jefferson or Alexander the Great at 7:42, but we can always guess and we can always ask our friends.

We do know about pumpkin spiders, though. We don’t have to guess. They weave webs every Saturday morning. And Sunday. Mondays, too. 7:42 is an excellent time to weave spider webs. The sun is coming up and it’s quiet.

Pumpkin spiders never think about the world’s leaders though. Ever. That much we know. The world’s leaders, though, might think about pumpkin spiders. Captains of Industry, they may say. Who knows? It’s breakfast time for them. Then again, that would only be a guess. This is the sort of thing that people guess at 8:05.

Here, now, is the sun.

It's 8:06.