Another Day In Paradise

Well, maybe just almost heaven.  The weather was perfect with a cooling breeze offsetting the hot sun.  Duane took the bike on a couple of chores this morning.  I stayed home and read.  After lunch  we decided to try out the shuffleboard court.  I was mistaken earlier when I said that the courts were like new.  They are actually in need of resurfacing and some of the pucks were missing.  We managed to collect two sets and have a game.  Since this is a game of physical coordination, I, of course, did badly.  We couldn't remember the scoring so we just played until we got too hot.  The final score--Duane 22, Louise -29.  I turned out to be very good at hitting the minus 10 space perfectly!

While we were playing we saw something interesting--parents actually playing with their children!  This family (there are more children) rvs full time.  The children are home schooled.  They even walked around the park selling candy to raise money for a field trip to Sea World!  I know that sounds as if the parents are cheap, but we considered it a "school" fundraiser and that the kids were getting the full school experience.  There is another family like them here and the kids all hang out together.    This evening we all played pickleball together.  The boys had fun playing with Tom and Duane and vice versa.   All of the children are cheerful and friendly, and seem to be very well adjusted.  We all enjoyed playing with all of them.  

Since our day was short on activity, I will share something I read today.  During the 1700's and into the early 1800's, those Americans who could afford to have a clock in their home usually purchased a tall case clock--the grandfather clock that we associate with old-fashioned parlors.  These clocks were expensive, in part because the case, face and works were all made by different, specially trained people and then put together for use in the home.  In addition to choosing a style, the customer could also choose how the face was to be decorated.  Popular motifs included floral designs, bucolic landscapes or time related symbols such as the sun and the moon.  In the early 1800's Eli Terry of P;ymouth, CT transformed the clock making industry in two ways.  First, he produced clock works from  wood.  Prior to Terry's innovation, most clock works were made of metal--expensive and often hard to find.  Terry also used a production line and standard sized parts to make clock works efficiently and cost-effectively.  Terry  converted a grist mill into a clock factory, harnessing the water power to speed up production. 

Always learning something new,

Louise and Duane