November 12 – “An old friend”

I renewed acquaintance with an old friend today.  No, it wasn't someone I ran into on the street.  It wasn't someone I found on FaceBook or who found me through a google search.  No.  Today Chris reached into the back of her closet and pulled out the cuckoo clock.    Many years ago my incredible wife gave me a gift.  She knew I loved clocks.  The ones that work on batteries are fine, I guess.  But real clocks – the ones that operate with weights and counterweights and gears and pendulums have always fascinated me.  And to have one that gongs once on the half hour and then gongs the appropriate number of times for the hour was awesome.  But my wife loves me.  She found a clock that was all that … plus it had a cuckoo bird inside that also sounded the number of the hour.  I used to sit there as the hour approached and wait for that distinctive clicking that meant the cuckoo was awake and was preparing for his show.  And when he popped out to - "Cuckoo!  Bong!  Cuckoo! Bong!" – well, it was always a special moment.  We always got a kick out of the reactions of friends who came for a visit and had the pleasure of sleeping in the same room with the little guy.  He was faithful to appear every hour on the hour and let them know how much sleep they weren't getting.  Only a few folks figured out that all they had to do was stop the pendulum and the bird would be silenced.    The clock actually stopped working several years ago.  Doesn't that mean by tradition that I died, too?  Or not.  Anyway, we didn't know anyone then who could fix it.  Nor do we now.  Looking for someone in the phone book just doesn't feel complete, somehow.  I checked for signs of a website, but the two suspects we found had never built one.   The non working clock had remained in its spot and was still on the wall when Hurricane Ike came through.  Because of the chain length, it was situated very close to the ceiling.  That made it possible for the weights to hang down as low as they needed to.  So only the chains were involved in the flood.  We were hoping it would just miraculously start working again.  We cleaned it up the best we could and hung it on the wall.  Back in almost the same spot it had been before.    We climbed the chair and hooked on the pendulum.  And gave it a push.  It worked for a few minutes before the pendulum simply stopped.  I pushed the clock hands around to the hour, and the gong sounded, and the cuckoo came out, but he didn't say "Cuckoo."  Very sad.    Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."   Father, thank you for the friends you have given us over the years.  Amen.