My other dear uncle, brother of Bachelor, was visiting some timeback and I asked him if he remembered Mr. Tinkle. We shared our
memories of this kind little elderly man, who lived a few houses down
and repaired clocks and various other things in his old garage. Tinkle
was a scrubby, "Darby O'Gill" looking guy, missing a few teeth and
sported a wool cap. Uncle, who is six years older, and I would go down
and spend our lazy summer afternoons hanging around in Mr. Tinkle's
work shed, watching him tinker on clocks. The funny thing is,
Mr. Tinkle was his real name! I am drawn to vintage wind up alarm
clocks and we decided that Mr. Tinkle must be the reason. Funny, I
didn't realize why, until now. Yesterday, I posted a Pasternak quote
about time, on my sidebar. I would love you to share any favorite
and spend our lazy summer afternoons hanging around in Mr. Tinkle's
work shed, watching him tinker on clocks. The funny thing is,
Mr. Tinkle was his real name! I am drawn to vintage wind up alarm
clocks and we decided that Mr. Tinkle must be the reason. Funny, I
didn't realize why, until now. Yesterday, I posted a Pasternak quote
about time, on my sidebar. I would love you to share any favorite
thoughts or quotes, you might have, on the subject of time.
***photo: Willow's vintage alarm clocks
A charming story of Mr. Tinkle and his timepieces.
ReplyDeleteAs for quotes, off the top of my head one of my favourites is:
Life is short... but wide.
Oh, I like that! I've never heard that one, G! :)
ReplyDeleteWillow...You are so beautifully talented...First of all the photo of clocks..right on spot! This is something I am very interested in...Old clocks..I have two antique French clocks,a vintage wind up clock,a vintage electric filigree mirrored clock and a crystal Waterford clock on my bedside table. Oh yes..I have another one on my desk..A monkey holding a clock up over his head...This is funny...I never realized I had so many :),,A fun post...
ReplyDeleteIf money were no object, I would have many old ticking clocks in my home. I love grandfather clocks, the ticking, the chimes, etc. Maybe it comes from Captain Kangaroo? :) There is an older gentleman in our church that always says a quote before he starts to eat. "Life is short..eat dessert first!" And I will say that I've been at many dinners with him, and he actually does eat the dessert first!
ReplyDeleteThe quote by Paternak..I had to read about him in hopes of discovering how his thoughts might be...my goodness..I was totally impressed with all that he accomplished.So... We are captives of time..in the short space of our lives, the clock continues to tick..all that we want and must do is limited to that space...In that space of time, and nothing more is all that will last, as evidence and memory of us, into eternity..
ReplyDeleteMr. Tinkle sounds like a character from a book by Dickens.
ReplyDeleteWow! I love your vintage clocks. You have a very nice collection. Beautiful photo and what neat memories of a man that I'm sure was fascinating to know.
ReplyDeleteThe name and the profession and the type of man he was sounds like an interesting character just out of a Charles Dickens novel.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember the song "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce?
ReplyDelete"If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that Id like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you
If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
Id save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
Ive looked around enough to know
That youre the one I want to go
Through time with
If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
Ive looked around enough to know
That youre the one I want to go
Through time with"
This song still makes me cry..It's so beautiful....
Rebecca, I haven't thought of that song in years. Yes, it's so very touching. I remember getting choked up every time I heard it.
ReplyDeleteEamon and Sharon,
ReplyDeleteYes! I didn't think of that, but he was straight out of a Dickens novel!
Do you recall the opening scene of "Gone With The Wind"?
ReplyDeleteThere is a large clock on the plantation grounds, with slave children dangling from it, and it reads: “Do not squander time, that is the stuff life is made of.”
I have a wall clock and on it is etched "Tempus Fugit" which is Latin for "Time Flies".
I had forgotten that clock scene in Gone With the Wind. That's a film I haven't seen in a while. Intriguing quote!
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather passed away last May and I have the clock that was always on his mantel, now in my kitchen. It is one of those old wooden kitchen shelf clocks with the intricate carved hood. It has a soothing tick tock sound and it fondly reminds me of him.
Thank you DeeDee! :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your thoughts on Pasternak's quote and time.
It's gone now but once there was world-class and wonderful Time Museum near DeKalb IL ... lost in time I suppose.
ReplyDeleteSo, you too are fascinated by a time machine?
http://www.timemuseum.com/ttmop/prhtml.htm
The only scary thing about a time machine is possibly getting stuck back there somewhere.
ReplyDeleteMr. Tinkle is such a nice memory!
ReplyDeleteI've always loved this proverb:
"Time and tide wait for no man."
Oh Rebecca, that song was there for me when I first really fell in love. And it still is. It always chokes me up too.
ReplyDeleteWell as the Steve Miller Band so eloqently sang in Fly Like an Eagle, "Time keeps on tickin, tickin, tickin, into the future."
ReplyDeleteXO
"Time flies whether you are having fun or not" has always been something I've quoted...also "this too shall pass." I'm afraid that in this fashion I may be wishing my life away.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say. Just a gorgeous post, my dear. I think I'm turning into Mr. Tinkle revisited. :) The other uncle and I were just discussing tonight those days gone by. He has a better memory of somethings than I.
ReplyDeleteQuote: "The most precious gift you can give is your time."
"Time won't give us time, and time makes lovers feel like they've got something real, but you and me we've got nothing but time, ...and time won't give us time...(Etc)"
ReplyDelete--By Culture Club!
I always loved our deeply resonant slowly knocking/ticking grandfather clock in the stairwell landing of our old house. Marvellous.
There are reasons people like Mr. Tinkle are born and are around at different times in the generations of mankind.
ReplyDeleteThink about it.
BTW. Beautiful post.
My mother's engagement ring from my father was a grandfather clock with the inscription "To keep time enough for love."
ReplyDeleteHappy May Day!
Thanks, Abe.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right...nice thought.
BAW, a novel.....Mr. Tinkel revisited! You are silly, you've got a long way to go before you become Tinkel.
ReplyDeleteCrista, that is about the most romantic engagement story I have ever heard. I love that.
ReplyDeleteP.S.
ReplyDeleteOf all things, I actually heard the above Culture Club song piped into our local store this morning --hadn't heard that in ages! Odd.
That is amazing...I haven't heard it in ages either. That kind of thing happens to me a lot. I'll be into a certain subject (talking or reading about it) and then it will pop up again, randomly.
ReplyDeleteWell, as long as it doesn't mean, "time's up!" LOL.
ReplyDeleteHad to return to say that "Time In A Bottle" was my wedding song long ago :-) I still get goosebumps when I hear it!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting goosebumps just reading about it. Aww..such romantic memories, Pat. :)
ReplyDelete