Dark.
In the light of the bathroom lamp hung above the mirror see that it is seven in the morning. It is pitch black on this Sunday, at this hour. Still, dawn is to be at twenty six past, today.
So put on the day clothes in the dark, take the computer and go to the living room. Hear noises from outside, it is the neighbour, He has put on his hat his coat, his scarf and his boots and is already pushing the snow from the footpath with a large plastic snow shovel. He is the first in the otherwise pristine street, up at daybreak, doing his civic duty.
And now it is getting lighter outside, it is snowing steadily, lightly, small flakes drifting diagonally across the frame of the window. The clock is ticking it's irregular tick to itself, the little pawl falling over the teeth on the wheel. A ratchet, every movement of the pendulum pushes the wheel on for another increment, a half-second pendulum that regains the energy lost to the work of driving the clock from an impulse given by an electromagnet. A half - second pendulum, short and heavy.
And now the other neighbours have joined in, and are all busy clearing the pavements.
The pristine smooth covering of snow is gone, destroyed.
In the interest of safety.
In the light of the bathroom lamp hung above the mirror see that it is seven in the morning. It is pitch black on this Sunday, at this hour. Still, dawn is to be at twenty six past, today.
So put on the day clothes in the dark, take the computer and go to the living room. Hear noises from outside, it is the neighbour, He has put on his hat his coat, his scarf and his boots and is already pushing the snow from the footpath with a large plastic snow shovel. He is the first in the otherwise pristine street, up at daybreak, doing his civic duty.
And now it is getting lighter outside, it is snowing steadily, lightly, small flakes drifting diagonally across the frame of the window. The clock is ticking it's irregular tick to itself, the little pawl falling over the teeth on the wheel. A ratchet, every movement of the pendulum pushes the wheel on for another increment, a half-second pendulum that regains the energy lost to the work of driving the clock from an impulse given by an electromagnet. A half - second pendulum, short and heavy.
And now the other neighbours have joined in, and are all busy clearing the pavements.
The pristine smooth covering of snow is gone, destroyed.
In the interest of safety.
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