Keeping My Grandparents' Clocks
The smaller of the two clocks I received from my grandmother. This one keeps time almost every weekend. Its subtle mechanical sounds, how it works, its mannerisms for keeping time, and the dong-dong-dong sound it makes when it rings the hour and half hour take me back to my childhood. Today it sits at the entry to my study area, from this angle overlooking our living room below. Before she went into the nursing home several years ago, my grandmother (dad's side), gave me a couple of old clocks that were in her house. They were part of my life growing up and I always expressed interest in them. One is a wall-mounted clock but it does not work very well and sounds rather "dinky" when its bell rings the hour. The other clock sat on the mantel of an unused fireplace in her kitchen throughout my youth and, indeed, until the day I brought it to my house. It works fine and features a nice, confident ringing bell - dong. I enjoy hearing it tick and listening to its int