More Clocking

Pa and I have steadily been making progress on our clock. The part that really takes up time is staining/waiting for stain to dry. I told Pa he could go ahead and do some of the work without me, so he put together a bunch of the pieces last week and stained them himself.

We've gotten to the point where (after those gears dry and get stain on the other side), we'll be able to start assembling the gears. Other people could probably have finished the whole thing by now, but Pa and I are enjoying doing it together, so we're getting there when we have time. I do not actually go to my parents' house every day, even though it may seem like it.

Meanwhile, my neat-freak of a mother has been tolerating giant clock innards on her large, beautiful dining room table like a SAINT. Because I know her well, I know that deep down inside, the clock is most likely driving her bonkers. However, because she likes it when Pa and I have father-daughter bonding projects, she's successfully bitten her tongue and given us time to make a mess of her ENTIRE dining room/living room area. She deserves some kind of a medal. Thank you, Ma.

I'm learning all about clocks while piecing this together. I didn't know what certain parts of a clock were called, and now I do. I also know all about BB shot, because we put 3 lbs of BBs into the weight yesterday. The weight will wind and unwind to keep the time (I think). It's really, really hard for me to visualize what this will all look like when it's finished, but I'm excited. I can't believe we are Making a Real Clock. We rule.

I am going to make a conscious effort to speed up the pace a bit though. I forget that the clock is splayed out all over the place when I'm not over there. Out of sight, out of mind. But because I love my sweet Ma, I'm going to stop in more often to get the clock really going. We already have the perfect place picked out for it. I can't wait to see it hanging and tick tocking.

I'm having a lot of fun with it. Thank you, Pa.