However, today I opened a little used drawer and found two watches which should have been included in last night's post. You will note that Chairman Mao (above) presided over a clock face 1) with nary a number and 2) with a red star atop the second hand. One of these was given to every member of my tour group to China back in 19aught80. We arrived in China at a time when little blue uniforms were still worn by all citizens (silk or fine wool for the masters, wash cotton for the masses), all the shoes were black cotton Mary Janes and the country was just opening to tourists from the capitalist west.
Quite in contrast, the Lady Elgin was given me by my Phoenix grandmother when I graduated from Phoenix College back in the 40s. In those days, a good watch was a valued treasure and there was little competition from the dime stores. (To judge from my spam mail, I gather that there is still a market for snob watches.)
And then, on the mantelpiece there sits the xerox clock, a project of passing interest to my late husband. The works (below) are for real, the temporary face was a paper copy that was never replaced by the real thing. The eagle is removable, but lends an air of grandeur to the enterprise.
Bavarian Squirrels: Steve, who is a regular commenter here at Walking Prescott, has been providing nuts for and photographing the squirrels who abound in his village. They all are beautiful animals, with great tufted ears, but he has one (to me) rather remarkably colored critter he calls Coal. Coal is a black squirrel, what one might call a "tuxedo squirrel", which is totally new to me. Today's post gives a good series of pictures of all three of his current visitors.a
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5 comments:
Yea, that bottom shot is great: naked clock guts. It takes you back, uh, in time to the days of late medieval Europe, the olde Swiss watchmakers, and Newton's Deity who wound up the clockwork of cosmos and let it run.
GJ, Youngster, Quinn and Coal want to thank you for the link. They are entertaining little critters. I want to thank you as well.
boonie -- I'm sure glad that mechanism for running the cosmos was developed and started.
steve -- your squirrel posts have reminded me that I have little picture of the resident small mammal population of the Old World -- which critters we share, which are exclusive to one continent or another, like our javelina or Europe's hedgehogs. And seeing a picture of a British robin I realized that ours are quite different.
I enjoy clocks and loved the xerox clock.
On your chinese visit did they also give you the Little Red Book and shout "Mao zhuxi wan sui" at you?
avus -- I didn't see a Little Red Book while in China, though I passed p the chance to buy a little silk weaving that showed the famous picture of Mao's head as he "swam" the big river.
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