Time and Tide Wait for No Man, or How to Lose Your Watch

“Time and tide wait for no man.”
– old English proverb.

I was absorbed in making this photo, focusing on the watch on the rocks with the ocean and sunset in the background.

I looked up and made a quick snap of the sunset that was shaping up. (My lens was wet but I didn’t notice.)

I knew that the tide was rising but didn’t expect the waves suddenly crashing on the watch. Time and tide didn’t wait, and didn’t give any warning either.

Fortunately I was able to find the watch, almost buried in the sand.

It was then that I decided to focus on enjoying the sunset instead. It had different hues, including red on the clouds.

I was grateful that I stopped to look at the sky, appreciate the moment, and see that sometimes “losing” one’s watch is not always a bad thing.

Yes, time and tide wait for no man, but there’s nothing wrong with asking where they’re going.

And sometimes it’s fine to let them go ahead.

(On the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.)

(The proverb “time and tide wait for no man” is so old it dates back to old English when the word “tide” meant the same thing as time, or more precisely, it was a measure of time.
Find details on the origin and meaning of the proverb here.
There’s also an interesting discussion on the origin of the phrase “time and tide” here.)

Time