In the Adirondacks, I stay at my friend’s house, Crows Acres, which is seasonally occupied by people, but occupied full-time by rodents and the threat of fire. Every time we leave, we unplug all the kitchen stuff to keep the mice from chewing through electrical wiring and causing a fire.

The clock on the Crows coffee maker starts at 12 as soon as it is plugged in. On my first full day in the Adirondacks, I usually wake up early to go on a long hike, and for the rest of my time in there, I make coffee around 1 or 2, according to the coffee clock. Of course, time is kind of hazy concept in the Adirondacks, where activities are scheduled for “Crow morning” and “Crow afternoon.”

The rest of my summer, though filled with adventure, was not as lazy. Driving across the country was amazing, but to see Cleveland, Chicago, Taliesin East, Sioux Falls, the Badlands, the Black Forest, Yellowstone, Jackson, Ketchum, Arches, Rifle, and Fort Collins in three weeks took a lot of work. We didn’t even have the benefit of a coffee alarm.

I was thinking about all this because the clock on the coffee machine in the house I’m staying at in Denver is about four hours off. I don’t know what that even means. Probably nothing. Not every detail is part of a larger narrative.