How to Wind a Cuckoo ClockWritten by Dave Balch
We have a lot of clocks in our home. Most of them make some sort of noise on hour (steam trains, cartoon characters, birds, dogs, horses, wild animals; I'm not kidding!), some of them on half-hour as well, and one that even chimes on quarter hour. We just like clocks. Needless to say, we are usually aware of time! Some of my favorites are cuckoo clocks that we purchased on a trip to Black Forest, and they needed some TLC: cleaning, oiling, and adjusting.Enter Skip, clock repairman who believes in long-lost art of house calls. He took clocks back to his shop and fixed them up beautifully. When he returned them, he placed them back on wall with loving care and proceeded to explain "proper" way to wind them. 1. Be sure to pull straight down or chain can come off of gear or weight may bang against wall, leaving a mark. 2. Pull only one chain at a time because pulling more than one at a time a) causes chains to be pulled at an angle and b) puts too much stress on hanger on wall and/or back of clock. 3. Don't pull them too quickly because they may come off of their gears. 4. When setting clock it is better to turn hands counter clock-wise because of nature of internal mechanism. ...and so on, and so forth. For about 15 minutes, Skip explained finer points of something that seemed so simple and so obvious, that I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
| | Compassion, Part 2Written by Rinatta Paries
Having compassion toward others is a gift of connectedness you give yourself and a gift of presence you give others. While difficult to define, compassion is a way of being, and you will see definition emerge among three concepts presented here.1. Compassion involves seeing others as "self." No matter how different others are, or how different their circumstances are from yours, we all want essentially same things from life. We want happiness, satisfaction and love. We want connectedness, safety and understanding. When you are struggling to feel compassion for others, struggling to put yourself in their shoes, struggling to understand what they are going through, remember this similarity. Remember that everyone ultimately wants what you want. 2. Compassion does not involve self-sacrifice or martyrdom at your expense. When in a disagreement with someone -- whether your partner, a friend or your boss -- remember to see other as "self." At same time, be careful not to mistake compassion for being a pushover. Don't justify another's behavior at cost of your feelings or discount your feelings. Being compassionate in context of disagreement means being understanding, supportive and kind, while respecting and setting your boundaries. You must be present to both simultaneously in order to both take care of yourself and others.
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