New England Case Clock

It was three-ish when I woke up and saw bright lights a mile or so to the east – an oyster dredge with crew hard at it I imagine. Somehow it is a comforting to know that some aspects of life go on around the clock. The lights were still there when the alarm went off, seemingly only a few minutes later.

Come to find out, we had totally spaced ‘falling back’ and five ayem was now four ayem. My first clue was how chilly it was. Our thermostat is set so that the heat magically goes on each night in plenty of time for us to wake up to a warm and toasty house… I made the coffee anyway.

Waterbury Library Clock

While it was brewing (or more accurately, dripping), I poked a few non-buttons (you know the kind I mean) on the stove and corrected its LED clock but for some reason I didn’t correct the time on the other two kitchen clocks. Yes, two. The one on the microwave (also the LED variety) and the real clock on the wall – the one I depend upon out of long-standing non-digital habit.

Of course, even that particular analog clock doesn’t seem legitimate to me. It runs on batteries which seems all wrong. But at least, when I do get around to bringing it up to date, I will have the satisfaction of really, truly moving the hour hand ‘back.’

Gilbert Cottage Clock

That’s not true of the other analog clocks in the house – the wind-up ones. With those, turning the clock back is actually a time-consuming (so to speak) process and has to be done by moving the minute hand forward eleven hours’ worth. A simple one-number-backward move of the hour hand would harm the gear the house settles a little more and they get out of balance, or mechanism – or so I’ve always understood.

We have half a dozen old-fashioned wind-up clocks in this house. I don’t know that they have ever all been operable at the same time. The fabulous clock repairman Erwin Dence of Chinook has worked on most of them and, and after a visit to his shop, they usually do just fine for a while. But then another part gives out or the house settles a little more and they get out of balance, or they get crotchety for no reason at all. Most of them are in their hundreds and I figure they’re entitled.

It’s probably just as well that all those clocks don’t work. By the time we’d get them adjusted for standard time, it would be time to adjust them the other way once again. I really do think the oystermen have the right of it – living by the tides seems easier.