Spring forward, fall back

Editor's note: Erick Harris, a graduate of Central High School in Cape Girardeau, is spending a semester in London for an internship in Parliament and is writing about his experiences.

By Erick Harris

For the last few months I have had the wonderful experience of living and working in London. However, as I have gotten more accustomed to this new environment, more things have been added to my daily schedule.

Endless meetings, working lunches and dinners, seminars, and trips on behalf of the Centre for Social Justice have left me with little spare time, making it more difficult to go sightseeing.

The Sunday before last, I decided to meander through the streets of my neighborhood to contemplate how to squeeze in more time to go to places of interest. I then remembered that there was a place of interest right in my back yard -- Greenwich. And since the last Sunday in March marks the beginning of British Summer Time (or daylight-saving time) I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity for me to visit the historic park.

Greenwich is where time has started since the seventeenth century when King Charles II sought to advance sea navigation. It was upon a hill, then outside London, that King Charles II decided to build the Royal Observatory.

As London was becoming an increasingly important sea town, the Greenwich meridian line became the standard in determining east-west position. More recently, the Greenwich meridian line has been internationally recognized as the prime meridian and the place where each day begins.

Having a fondness for the history of the royal family, I began my visit to Greenwich by walking to the Queen's House and the National Maritime Museum. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and I could not go inside, but the size and architecture of the buildings were incredible.

Right across the street was the Royal Naval College -- Britain's version of the U.S. Naval Academy until 1998. The college is split into two identical parts separated by the prime meridian line and a statue of King George II. The site is now used by the University of Greenwich and the Trinity College of Music. After walking around the grounds of the Royal Naval College, I then set my sights upon the large hill that I had to ascend to get to the Royal Observatory.

While traveling along the walkways I noticed beautiful flower gardens, a large duck pond, Britain's largest enclosed deer patch and random Britons playing cricket, badminton and football (soccer).

When I finally reached the top of the hill, I caught a remarkable view of London only matched by the vision atop the roof of Parliament.

Closer to the observatory, I noticed an electronic board displaying the exact time, a wooden plaque with a line on it marking the prime meridian line and a time ball, which to this day drops at 1 p.m. so sailors can reset their chronometers, although atomic clocks now are used. Most impressive was the laser used to mark the prime meridian line.

As Sunday marked the start of daylight-saving time in much of North America, it's time to consider the things that are most important and participate and contribute to those activities.

And as there is more daylight to get things accomplished, I set forth the following poetic Latin challenge: "Carpe diem!"

Erick Harris attends Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.