What Time is it Over There?

Biker Dude's girlfriend was gone. She was going to be working in Spain for the next four months on an exchange sort of program. She was teaching a Lit class at a college in Sevilla.

They had said their goodbyes two weeks ago when he took her to the airport.

Ever since that day, every time he looked at the clock, he did a fast calculation. Adding seven to the time. Then he would think, "I wonder what she's doing now."


When it was 6:00AM at home, it was 1:00PM there. He'd think of what she might be doing. Just finishing up lunch at some street-side cafe maybe... or walking home from the park... or carrying fruit and groceries from the market... or riding the rent-a-bikes to some scenic or historic view... maybe she was watching couples walk hand in hand by the "Almeda de Hercules."


When he got home from school at 3:30, he'd do the math again. Hmmm.. 10:30PM over there. She's probably at home reading and just about to call it a night. Maybe she's on the roof looking at the lights, or by the river, watching boats go by and having a late dinner.

When he went to bed at night he knew that in an hour, when he was just starting to dream, she would be waking up and starting her day. He'd wonder what her plans were going to be. Where she would shop? What would she make for breakfast? What she's be talking about in her class? Would she sit on her veranda and write, and, if so, what would she write about?


It's odd, but for some reason the 4221 miles (yes, he did find a website that could calculate the exact distance between two cities on the planet) and the Atlantic Ocean really didn't make him feel removed from her. The difference in time had somehow made him think of her in a different way. To try to put himself in her place and feel what she was feeling, see what she was seeing. And maybe because he was trying to focus on being empathetic, he actually felt close to her despite an ocean between them.

Was that why? Or was it something else? He didn't know. But Biker Dude didn't care. What mattered was the feeling. The knowing that miles were just a number and that real and true closeness didn't factor distance into its equation. It was the same thing Golden Earring sang about in "Radar Love." A connection between lovers that was always there no matter the distance or displacement in time.

Biker Dude looked up at the clock again just before he went out to go to school. He paused at the backdoor and before locking it, he wondered... could she feel it too?