A portrait of Dorian Gray's clock...

A portrait of Dorian Gray's clock... originally uploaded by anyjazz65. Yes, I must confess I do talk to my grandfather clock. At least once a week I reset the ballast weights and send it on another seven days of ticking and telling time. I inquire about its week, how things have been here in the hall, what visitors he liked best. It seems content with that. When it runs down and I have to reset the hands as well as raise the weights, I apologize to it. I talk to it in tones I would use if I stumbled over a sleeping dog or let the cat’s water bowl go dry. We have become companions over the years since inheriting it from my mother. It asks for little, I give it little. That works out even. It sat for many years in mother’s entry hall, broken but never complaining. Not even a tick. It always said 4:30. Then one day I decided to fix it. Since that comical day, it has been a friend. I kind of like it and it tolerates me. (Again, a bit like a cat, but no litter box.)

My friends carry on politely about it: ed ed says: had to think about this and dorian gray for a while... ha! very good: that would make a great story: someone who only kept going as long as the clock did... how do you feel when it strikes...? (it looks very stately there) anyjazz65 eded: Glad to have given you a little mental exercise. I have the chimes shut off... I couldn't take all the excitement... Bluepeony says: My mother loved her clock, and always made a point of winding it when my son was at hand. When she passed, she left the handsome clock to my son! anyjazz65 says: Lovely story. Mine has a story too. (other than the fact that I apologize to it out loud when I let it run down.) My step-dad worshiped my mother and would do anything for her. Mother told me once that she had to be careful what she looked at when shopping, He would notice and the next thing she knew, it would be delivered to the house. The clock was one such surprise. (A Hammond Organ was another.) While shopping in a mall, Mother stopped to look at a grandfather clock. Next day it was hers. She never did really like it much but could never tell her husband of course. When it fell to disrepair she just left it sitting in her living room and forgot it. I fixed it years later and it sits in my front hall where I pass it several times a day.