Clocks & watches

Mother always liked antiques.  At our home we have a fancy antique clock with a case in the style of a Greek temple with pillars and such.  I think it was built by German-Canadians.  There's a label on it that shows it was built in Berlin, Ontario, where a lot of Germans lived, before 1914. (Then World War I broke out and the local Germans showed their patriotism by renaming the town Kitchener after the big British general.)

I miss windup watches.  Today they only seem to sell battery watches, which run by themselves until the battery dies and needs replacing. [In fact, my watch battery had died just that day.] I miss the daily ritual of winding your watch in the morning.  It was a bit like feeding the pet I never owned.

I never had any difficult learning to tell time, what with the TV age and all.  But I was a long time learning to tie my shoes.  A neighborhood kid once jeered at me, "Can you tie your shoes?" I remember once in school when we took off our shoes for some reason, and when we were putting them back on some girls made fun of me because I had to retie mine in a sitting position while they were doing it in a crouch. (Whoopdedoo.) [I moved away from the table to demonstrate these positions to the rest of the group.]