Time

I got a new clock for Christmas.

I grew up in a home with many clocks.  We had wall clocks, grandfather clocks, mantel clocks and even a clock on the coffee table. I was lulled to sleep at night by the chimes of the grandfather clocks. I remember early mornings doing my hair by the chime of these clocks insuring I still had enough time before I needed to leave to school.

To keep these clocks running we had to wind most of them up. I loved to have the opportunity to place the large brass key in the holes and listen to the ticking of the gears as it was wound up to insure the clock would keep time.

We also had to raise the weights in the grandfather clocks, if I remember right one of the two grandfather clocks weights was raised by a latch or lever. The other clock 's weights were raised with the strings being pulled. These weights were raised by pulling strings or cords. That was not a job for young children. I do think one of those weights has a dent to show the times the children tried raising the weights.

One of our Grandfather clocks was larger and taller than the other. It had a square top. The smaller grandfather clock had a rounded top and so we called it our grandmother clock. Traditionally grandmother clocks hang on walls, not stand on the floor. But in our home the larger floor standing clock, was the grandfather clock and the smaller floor standing clock, was the grandmother clock.

Each clock has an individual chime or tone of its chime. Our grandfather clock had a very deep full sounding chime. The Grandmothers chime was higher in pitch and not as commanding.

Our coffee table clock came from a European country I am not sure which. It was most likely a German clock as we spent several years living in Nuremburg Germany as a family. This clock looked much like the clocks we would see when touring castles. It was a three piece clock set. All three pieces had marble bases. The rest of the clock and figurines on the two side pieces were brass. The middle piece had the clock workings in it. The two side pieces were brass figurines holding urn vase bases if my memory is correct. This clock was obviously old, perhaps 100's of years old. The brass was worn to a beautiful patina nothing like new golden brass.

All my siblings have these clocks in their homes today. I was not given one of the clocks I grew up with. But during our early years of marriage my parents gave us a clock with the Westminister chime I was so accustomed to.

It is a beautiful clock in need of repair to restore its Westminister chime. Repair work on these clocks does not come cheap.