Category: square

TIME IN HAND: A SQUARE FOR BECKY B – Marilyn Armstrong

HOLDING TIME – A Square for Becky B

Time in your hand? I used to collect old pocket watches, but over the years, I’ve given many of them away to people who could afford to repair them.

It’s very hard to find anyone who can fix a watch these days.

It seems like clockmakers have disappeared along with buggy whip manufacturers. And also, buggies.

Elgin (Waltham) silver railroad pocket watch

I have two left I just couldn’t let go. The one showing here is a solid silver Elgin-Waltham railroad watch. Big, silver, heavy, it actually runs … but it needs a new crystal and I have no idea where to find one. So if anyone just happens to know a hobby watchmaker, let me know.

The railroad man’s watch

The only caretakers left are hobbyists. The “pros” change batteries. The people who “take care of watches” know nothing about them. If it doesn’t have a battery, they are lost.

I love the feel of a big, heavy pocket watch. This one feels so delicious in my hand, I didn’t want to put it away. I polished it up and put it in a pouch to keep it clean.

 

FROM BUD TO BLOSSOM: TWO SQUARES FOR BECKY B AND A FLOWER FOR THE DAY – Marilyn Armstrong

From Bud to Blossom and Flower of the Day

The interval between the fullness of a bud and the opening of the blossom is a time for the season. The Christmas cactus continues to bloom and our time is cactus time!

As I watch the changing cactus, I realize that before there were clocks, there was the growth of the soil, the height of the corn, the flowing, and drying of waters. The movement of sun and moon as the seasons change.

This is all around us. Every breath we take is a tiny piece of our life.

The bud
The flower
Flower of the Day – FOTD – 12/14/2018

A TIME TO BLOOM AND A TIME TO FADE – FLOWER OF THE DAY – Marilyn Armstrong

A Time to Bloom and a Time to Fade – FOTD – 12/12/2018

I thought, when I watered the cactus yesterday, the blooms would vanish quickly. And indeed, two flowers dropped — but two new ones opened up. So it lives on and maybe, if I am very lucky, it will make it through the holidays.

Still fully blooming!
Bigger and more beautiful.

TIME AND TIME AGAIN: ANOTHER SQUARE FOR BECKY B – Marilyn Armstrong

TIME AND TIME AGAIN – 
A New Square for Becky B

All the old mills had clock towers and this is an old mill valley. You can’t always read the faces clearly. Some are too high up and sometimes, my eyes aren’t all that great.

I assume it was to remind people to show up to work on time. Or they just liked clocks.

None of the mills are mills anymore. Some are senior centers. A few are mini-shopping malls. The wooden ones have mostly burned to the ground. The prettier ones have become Senior Residences.

The brick one is now the Senior Center in Northbridge. It used to be a place for hobbyists to display their wares. There’s a dam directly behind it and adjacent to it is Whitin’s pond, where the swans live.

The stone one is a senior housing area and it is absolutely beautiful!

HARVEST MOON: A SQUARE FOR BECKYB #7 – Marilyn Armstrong

MOON TIME – 
A New Square for Becky B

Before we had calendars, the moon was our calendar.

The month was new when the moon was new and was growing old when the moon began to wane.  At month’s end, all was dark.

Full moons have names, too.

We know that the Harvest Moon comes at the time of the harvest and that the Wolf Moon follows a month (moonth) later. The moon makes our seas rise and fall — and makes us loony.

This was the full Harvest Moon on the first day of Autumn, September 2016.

Full Harvest Moon, September 2016

TIME FOR LUNCH: A SQUARE FOR BECKYB #6 – Garry Armstrong

Time for Lunch – 
A New Square for Becky B

Buy a new car? Get a free lunch. Miss Mendon is a restored 1950s Worcester dining car, so where else should it live except in the middle of Worcester County, Massachusetts?

It has become a part of the big collection of collectibles on the huge site of Imperial Automotive. We’ve bought our last three cars there and have never had any reason to not go back again.

They have a great selection of cars, new and used, but also, a highly entertaining shopping area. It includes antiques, and all kinds of shops, places to eat and a quality repair area.

Oh, and a really excellent car washing place. It’s so much better than any other one in our area, it’s a no-brainer where to take your car to be washed.

Lunch at Miss Mendon – and the day we got our new car – Photo: Garry Armstrong
Photo: Garry Armstrong

A STONE FROG SUNDIAL ON THE DECK: A SQUARE FOR BECKYB #5 – Marilyn Armstrong

STONE FROG SUNDIAL – #5
A New Square for Becky B

Our stone frog sits on a sundial. He has been sitting there for 18 years and looks a little worse for wear. But he’s a stony fellow, so he’ll survive!