(no subject)

With the stress of worrying about my dad's upcoming surgery gone, I feel like life is settling back into a routine. That's a routine in a good way. With much appreciated understanding from my manager/boss (I'm not quite sure which is the proper term) at the archives and my professors, I've taken time to spend with my dad and family lately. This week, apart from the odd snow storm, I'm back to my schedule as usual and am feeling the reassurance of expectation. I've noticed that I've been less inclined to want to speak up in class in the last couple weeks, and I hope that I'll be feeling more inclined engage in discussion now that my concentration isn't so scattered.

For quite a while, I've been wanting to write about my friend cranberrynomiko moving to Portland. Somewhat by surprise, she needed to pack up in Chicago and move out to be with family and friends in Oregon. Danae and I were both a bit sad that she was leaving. I'd known her for several years, but there had been some odd external circumstances when I first met her, and then there was a span of time that I wasn't really in contact with her much. Lately, I'd introduced her to danaeris and the group of us had been meeting up semi-regularly for board games and anime. I was really enjoying getting to know her better in a much better position to develop a friendship on my own terms with her. That said, it sounds like she's really happy where she is, and I'm quite glad to hear that 'cause I think she's awesome and deserves to be happy.

Her mother marie_rex flew in all the way from Europe to offer support and help. It was a pleasure meeting her, and I'm happy to be able to stay in contact with her here on Livejournal. Yay for new LJ friends! lisagems and I helped lighten her load a bit too by taking ownership of a few things like a rice cooker (for Lisa) and some books and things (for me). As well, Cranberrynomiko had offered me the beautiful Celtic harp that her parents had had made for her if she wasn't able to sell it on Craigslist fast enough. This was a terribly enticing thought, and I had a couple of daydreams of sitting down in front of it and learning to play various pieces of music. In the end though, it was a larger gift than I felt comfortable with taking. Instead, I offered to hold on to it and talk to the musicians and rennies I know about finding a buyer for it via those channels. (So I'll be collecting a bit more info about it from she and her parents now that I have time and will be asking people like wendyzski and others if she can help find a buyer.)

When I returned to help Cranberrynomiko with more packing the next day, her mother presented a different gift to me. A gift that I was very moved by and that, to be honest, I'll likely spend a lot more time using than I would a harp. In the sturdy green box in her hands was Sam. Sam is a 1905 English lever-escapement pocketwatch, which Marie_rex's husband, a hobbyist watchmaker, had rebuilt for Cranberrynomiko. I was taken with him immediately, and was very much honored by the gift as she showed me the wonderful instruction manual her husband had written up, how to open the watch up to see the florid engraving hidden inside, and how to tuck Sam into my watch pocket and loop his chain around a belt loop.

Unfortunately, his key was not to be found at that point so we couldn't wind him, but (and I write this with slight embarrassment) I started wearing him anyway. It is, of course, an affectation to wear a non-functional timepiece. But to be fair, it's an affectation to wear even a functional one in this age of cellular phones and ever-present computers. Physical reminders of people in my life are meaningful to me. My bright woven bracelet makes me think of Lisa, and my dark, floral hair stick reminds me of red_ceilidh. My jingly mobile in my car calls rileybear67 to mind and of course my keyring booklet reminds me of many of my friends and family who've written me message in it. And there are more. And now, Sam makes me think of my friend and her mother and how much I care about them.

But beyond that, Sam makes me think of a hundred and eight years of history and of all the people whose hands he must have passed through and of the skilled man I've never met who repaired him and of the talented watchmaker whose name is on the porcelain dial and who engraved his signature and the address of his shop on the brass surface of Sam's movement over a century ago. I still feel a little thrill of the past when I pause to look at the watch. I suspect I always will.

I did eventually manage to procure a key for Sam. He is a key-wind, key-set watch, so it's a pretty vital thing. Cranberrynomiko told me he needed a number 5 key, so armed with that knowledge I called two jewelery stores looking for one. The number for the first one I tried didn't work. The second one, as it turns out, was perfect as the owner happened to be a watchmaker. He ordered the key for me and I excitedly drove up to pick it up in a week's time. I think it was the first time I've ever been in a jewelery shop, and I was really feeling not classy enough to be there. *grins* The owner gave me the key and I fitted it to Sam's winding arbor. It slid on perfectly and I started to wind. A few spins around brought him to life with the sound of ticks and tocks. But a few times around was all I got; suddenly the key split into several pieces that fell onto the floor. Oops! I took a look at the parts and I think a tack weld didn't hold.

So he reordered a key for me and after another week it was in my hands. This time I was able to both fully wind Sam and set the time. The watchmaker was even kind enough to adjust the minute hand relative to the hour hand for me free of charge, as it wasn't quite matching up. And I have been wearing him ever since. Sam doesn't keep perfect time, but a question about how to fix that will be part of the litany of inquiries I'm going to include in my email to Marie_rex's husband. I also want to know just about everything else he can tell me about Sam's history, so once I have a few minutes to stack next to each other for correspondence, he's going to get a very excited email from me!