Thursday, January 19, 2023

The Purpose of Pendulums

 


By G. E. Shuman

 

          I was recently thinking of the purpose of a pendulum. You know… a pendulum; that constantly swaying thing that hangs down from cuckoo and grandfather clocks, or clocks belonging to ‘coo-coo’ grandfathers, and from metronomes. Actually, the things on metronomes aren’t pendulums, or maybe they are ‘inverted’ pendulums that swing back and forth sort of upside down. I’m not sure. Anyway, you get the idea.

          I was thinking of those pendulums as I looked through an assortment of clocks for sale online. I have always wanted a ‘real’ cuckoo clock, (You know, one that didn’t come from a cheap gift catalog, so, one that actually, probably, worked; one that even had a non-electronic bird that would come out and ‘cuckoo’ for you.)  I’d like it to be a big cuckoo clock, while I’m wishing. The slow tic-toc of such a clock would sound nice echoing through this old house of ours. At least I think it would.

          After my brief ‘cuckoo’ search I began wondering about the more abstract pendulums or pendulum effects in our lives. “How strange,” you might note. “Does this old writer have a substance abuse problem or something?”  Well, the answer is no, unless the substance is coffee, or maybe potato chips. This old writer just has old thoughts that have always swayed back and forth a bit, like a… yes, you guessed it.

          To be honest, which is something I always strive to be, I find that there are many things in life that are dictated, or at least nudged along by a pendulum effect, and I have always wondered what came first, the cuckoo or that long wooden part that keeps it, and us, straight and true. Did we invent the pendulum to measure time, or did we adapt something to time that had always affected us for the purpose of measuring almost everything else? Here are some for-instances. (You knew those were coming.) 

For instance, I think there is a balance between healthy living and comfort food. At least there seems to be for me. Those aforementioned potato chips are a delicious example. Also, on a cold winter’s evening, what beats mouth-watering meatloaf and a big baked potato for dinner? You can’t just eat vegetables and fruit all the time, (you… meaning… me,) but you can swing the other way and go back to them tomorrow.

Then there is the big, theoretical political pendulum that I happen to think is more real than theoretical.  Our ‘coo-coo’ political leaders are ceaselessly batted back and forth between the polls and voting booths of elections. The extreme right conservatives will never agree with the extreme left liberals, but the pendulum still swings between them, as citizens and their votes drag everything one way or the other, eventually pulling it all back toward the middle of the road once again.

Life and its many pendulums keep old clocks correct, and keep those old politicians dancing, tic-toc, left to right and back, around each other, even commanding the rhythm of the music they dance to. The gas gauge in my car reminds me of a pendulum, too, as it slowly moves from an emptying tank to the refueling of it, always displaying that old pessimistic/optimistic ‘half empty’ or ‘half full’ conundrum when precisely in the middle.

Other things around us measure periods of cold and warmth, of light and dark, of loud and quiet, our minds doing the same in feelings of happiness and sadness, of love and hate, of the brave and timid moments of life. Life itself being measured, always and forever, with one sweeping moment following another.  

Still, I think that the truest definition of a pendulum is something that not only commands and counts the existence and extremes of whatever it measures, but also pulls the experiencer back to the middle, keeping him centered on what is important. 

“Tic-Toc.”



 

Monday, January 16, 2023

She Smiled at Me

 


By G. E. Shuman

 

            I was in my car and happened to have just approached an intersection in downtown Barre, when something simple, but somehow profound, happened to me. Just as I was slowing to stop, a young woman came around the corner of a building and headed down the sidewalk, facing toward me. This lady was pushing one of those ‘double’ baby strollers, which was occupied by two very young infants. 

Although I am not normally a very ‘smiley’ person, it is my natural inclination to smile when I see a baby.  I’m not sure why that is, other than that I have always loved babies and small children.

            The thing that happened next, as you have probably guessed from the title, is that the young woman must have seen me smiling at her beautiful twins, as I waited for the traffic light to change. I looked up at her, and she immediately smiled back at me.  That was it… that was all, and you might be wondering why I was so struck by her smile to call the occurrence profound.  Well, you see, as I drove away, probably never to see those infants or their proud mom again, I realized that she had appreciated MY appreciating her children, and let me know that, with a smile.  I think that that appreciation doesn’t happen much today, especially with strangers.   I also think that fact is a sad one.

            We live in a sinful, dangerous world today, where kids are rightly taught to not speak to strangers; a world in which children may be kidnapped, or neglected, or abused.  Those horrifying things are in the news almost daily. When I was young such terrible occurrences were rare, and most parents felt safe allowing their kids to play throughout the neighborhood. Even as preteens, my friends and I would spend summer evenings playing army or cops and robbers on our street and even in the woods, guided only by moonlight. There was not the fear of danger then that parents must face today. 

            Even though I hate the idea, I think that people like me, from my generation, need to be careful these days, for the sake of the kids, and that I need to heed my own advice. For years now, when my wife has been pushing a shopping cart around the supermarket on a Saturday morning, (and I am dutifully following her,) I have enjoyed waving at the young kids in their carts and getting smiles and waves in return.  (I have to have some fun.) Truthfully, and sadly, this is probably counterproductive, if their parents are teaching them to not trust strangers. I guess we all must be more careful.

            Still, that day in my car, at that downtown Barre intersection, I felt a bit of hope, that not everyone is suspected of evil intent just because they are someone who is unknown. I happened to be in the right place at the right time that day, to see the double blessing that was riding in that double stroller.  I also saw a joyful young mom, and she smiled at me.   J