I’m starting to age I guess in that I’m enjoying more the sounds of my youth like a simple clockwork cuckoo clock. The timeless sound of the cuckoo bring back many memories. When I was a child, both my uncle and grandparents had cookoo clocks. I remember they were dark colored cases with ornate carvings but the bird that came out was brightly colored. I was told these were from the black forest in Germany.

I guess the Germans have a lock on authentic cuckoo clocks as when I got older, I went shopping for one and they were all German made clockworks. The new ones however were just like I remember. Darker carved woods on the outside with ornate carvings.

My parents had both a mantle clock and a wall clock that struck the quarter half and hour times. They were wonderful. Many people have fond memories about growing up. Foods, holidays, smells, and even sounds. I remember how our home was always breathing the sounds of our clocks. Even as an adult, going for visits brought me in many respects back to childhood days when hearing the constant patterned sounds of those time trackers. It was home!

Today, I have a grandfather clock, cuckoo clock, and several other clockwork type clocks all around my home. Yes, they aren’t as “accurate” as quartz timepieces or as fancy as the latest technology has to offer. But there’s something about their even pace, pendulums, weekly winding and yes, the announcement that time is marching on, that is somehow soothing. Almost melodic.

In the night, when every is asleep, I sometimes go down to the living room and just think. The clocks are busy, as always, pacing out time and announcing yet another quarter hour has past. It’s recognition of mortality, that some things don’t last, while others, like the cuckoo clock seem to last lifetimes.

When my son was very little he called clocks “tick tocks.” I’m sure this is nothing new for babies and toddlers that are just learning to speak and identifying the names of those objects that are around them on a daily basis, but being the completely biased mother than I am I thought it was just about the cutest thing I had ever heard. In fact, I kept a steady supply of clocks on hand in our house just so I could hear him call them tick tocks.

My son is thirty now and has just moved into his very first house with his wife and son. I was struggling with an idea of what to get them for a housewarming gift when I remembered my son’s penchant for clocks as a small child; the tick tocks that were everywhere in our house.

And so, as a housewarming gift that is meant for practical, decorative, and sentimental reasons I bought my son and his wife a mantel clock to go above their fireplace. They have the most gorgeous fireplace in their new home that is surrounded in stone. The mantel is carved from this distressed wood that makes for this beautiful, log cabin feel; it’s absolutely lovely. The mantel clock that I chose is rather traditional with simple lines and beautiful light wood. I could just see it sitting on their mantel when I purchased it online (the easiest shopping excursion I’ve ever had!)

My son and daughter-in-law were delighted with the mantel clock and my son remembered fondly his love for clocks when he was small. We’re now teaching his son to say tick tock when he looks at the mantel clock; something that will always make me smile.

ShareThis