Having a Ball as Time Flies By

Hello, hello, and welcome to T.E.A. Time with Tayvin Bayless.

If this is your first time listening, welcome. If you’ve joined me before, welcome back.

Have you ever looked at the clock and wondered how several hours disappeared? One moment, your afternoon is just beginning. The next, you are gathering your things, saying goodbye, and trying to get a baby home for bedtime.

That was our day today. We went from church to a game night to a cast party, with food preparation and driving mixed in between. It was busy, but it never felt especially long. Apparently, a full schedule can move quickly when you fill it with people you enjoy.

This brings me to the expression for today: time flies when you’re having fun. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Of course, time does not literally fly. It does not grow wings, escape through an open window, and leave you staring helplessly at the clock. The image simply suggests that time can move so quickly that it seems to fly past us.

In English, we say “time flies when you’re having fun” when an enjoyable experience seems to pass much faster than we expected. The clock moves at its normal speed, but our experience of that time changes because we are focused on what we are doing rather than on how long it is taking.

You might spend three hours talking with an old friend, even though it feels like only 30 minutes. A child might play outside all afternoon and be shocked when it is time for dinner. A family might begin a board game, get absorbed in the competition, and suddenly realize they are supposed to be somewhere else.

The idea that time “flies” is very old. The Latin phrase tempus fugit means “time flies,” or more literally, “time flees.” It comes from the Roman poet Virgil, who wrote about time escaping and never returning. English writers have used versions of “time flies” for centuries. The familiar addition “when you’re having fun” is much newer, but it gives the old saying a more playful meaning. Instead of warning us that life is passing, it describes the strange way an enjoyable hour can feel shorter than a boring one.

Here’s a quick example: Emma and I can sit down to play a board game with friends, and almost without realizing it, we have played an entire game, talked about everything happening in our lives, and somehow reached the time when we need to leave. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Today was a busy but fun day. We had stayed the night at Emma’s parents’ place, so we went to church with them in the morning. After church, we drove to my grandparents’ place to prepare for a game night with my friends Chip and Kass. We also needed to prepare food for The Far Gaze cast party later that evening.

We’ve been in Utah for almost an entire month, but unfortunately, we haven’t been able to spend much time with Chip and Kass. Earlier this week, we went to a baby shower for them. Their baby is due in about a month, and this will be their first. I know from personal experience that waiting for your first baby can be very nerve-racking.

The shower was a lot of fun, but there were so many people there that Chip and Kass had plenty of other things requiring their attention. We saw them, but we didn’t get much quality time with them. That is why I was glad we had arranged a quieter game night. It would give us more of a chance to catch up.

My other close friend Chandler and his wife, Mandy, had also planned to come. Unfortunately, their son came down with the flu, and we opted not to get together under the circumstances. We’ve got several big things happening this week, including my brother-in-law’s wedding and our drive back home, so I didn’t want to risk anyone in our family getting sick. Chip and Kass were also understandably wary of being exposed to a virus so close to the due date. It was disappointing that Chandler and Mandy couldn’t join us, but sometimes that’s how life goes.

We got back to my grandparents with enough time to get most of the food prep done before Chip and Kass arrived in the middle of the afternoon. They brought a board game that Emma and I had never played before called Harmonies, and it was a blast to play. In fact, we had so much fun that we are now determined to buy our own copy before leaving Utah.

I’ve played board games my whole life. I enjoy learning the rules and mechanics, then trying to strategize and optimize my choices. Emma has also played board games her whole life, and she is typically a little better than I am. This makes our family board game nights fairly competitive. Maybe, occasionally, a little too competitive.

Modern board games are often different from classic games because they use one theme to connect both the artwork and the mechanics. In Harmonies, you lay down different-colored tiles to create landscapes and attract animals to the environments you build. Each player creates a separate environment, and everyone takes turns pulling tiles from a shared resource pool.

The tiles and the artwork on the animal cards are beautifully designed. The basic mechanics are relatively easy to understand, but the choices give you a surprising amount of strategic depth. There are several ways to earn points, and each round gives you new decisions to make. It is the kind of game I could see us playing again and again.

Once we understood the rules, we settled into the game. We placed tiles, attracted animals, chatted, and caught up on everything that had happened since we last spent time together. Then, much sooner than I expected, the game was over. It was close, but Chip won.

Time had flown. But alas, our schedule had not gone with it.

Emma and I still needed to make it to the cast party, so we wrapped up the game, said goodbye, and headed toward Salt Lake City.

The party was held at someone’s home in a very nice part of the Salt Lake Valley. It was a beautiful house with a well-decorated interior, a fully finished basement, and an impressive backyard. Outside, they had pickleball courts, a trampoline, a playground for children, and even a zip line. The downstairs was just as impressive, and I ended up playing ping-pong with one of the cast members there for a while.

The party was a potluck barbecue, which is why we had prepared food to bring. We brought lettuce, tomatoes, and onions for the hamburgers, along with some sodas. The hamburgers were delicious, as were the fries. We ate, talked, played, and enjoyed the evening.

Eliana seemed to have a good time too, but partying with a baby comes with a deadline: bedtime. No matter how much fun the adults are having, you do not want to mess with a baby’s sleep schedule. Ignore it at your own risk.

We left around 7:30 to drive back to my grandparents’ place. We didn’t arrive until a little after eight, so Eliana went to bed later than usual. Fortunately, she fell asleep quickly.

Looking back, we packed a lot into one day. Church. Food prep. A new game. Time with friends. A cast party. Still, the day did not drag. One activity carried us into the next, and before I knew it, we were driving home in the dark. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun.

All right, let’s look at a second expression that fits our day: have a ball.

To “have a ball” means to have a wonderful time or enjoy yourself very much. It is informal, upbeat, and usually used for social events or enjoyable experiences.

You might say, “We had a ball at the wedding,” or tell someone, “Have a ball,” when you want them to enjoy an event they are about to attend.

At first, this expression sounds as though it should come from sports. Basketball, soccer, pickleball, and ping-pong all involve balls. Our cast party had at least two of those options available. But the expression most likely points to a different meaning of the word.

A ball is also a large formal dance or social gathering. Historically, attending one meant dressing well, dancing, and spending the evening with other people. By the 1920s, “have a ball” was being used informally for having an especially enjoyable time, even when there was no formal dance involved. The connection is fairly direct: the name of an exciting social event became another way to describe a good time.

That said, English gives us plenty of opportunities to play with both meanings. Chip and Kass brought a board game rather than a ball, but we still had a ball playing it. Later, I played ping-pong at the cast party, so the expression appeared a little more literal.

The expression is stronger than simply saying you had fun. If I say, “I had fun at the party,” the experience was enjoyable. If I say, “I had a ball at the party,” I sound more enthusiastic.

It also pairs naturally with our warm-up expression. When you are absorbed in an enjoyable activity, you are not checking the clock every few minutes. Then you finally look at the time and discover that the afternoon or evening is almost over. Time flew because you were having a ball.

So here’s something to think about: when was the last time you had a ball? What were you doing, and who were you with? The next time you become absorbed in an enjoyable activity, notice how quickly the time seems to pass. Then, once you have found the time again, try using one of today’s expressions to describe the experience.

We did not have a quiet day, but we had a good one. The schedule kept moving, and so did we. And, somewhere between the board game, the barbecue, and Eliana’s bedtime, a busy day became an enjoyable memory.

Time flew because we were having fun. That is a good problem to have.

And with that, my cup is empty. Thanks for joining me for T.E.A. Time. Until the next pot.