The Town Clock

Well our little town has a town clock. This is not so unusual for European villages but what's so neat about ours is that it is just 3 houses down from our home so we can REALLY hear the clock when it rings. Funny thing is we have a couple of cuckoo clocks in the house that were left by the owners and probably the second day we were here the kids asked me to take the batteries out so we didn't have to hear the clock striking on the hour, or every fifteen minutes. However, I kind of thought it was neat, so after a day or so I put them back. Everyone moaned at first but now no one even notices. As for the town clock, I don't even look at my watch when I am home because I can pretty much tell what time it is by listening for the clock. Here's how it works (for those who do not have this great event going on in your town) Say it is 10:00am, the clock will ring 4 times in one tone and then switch to another tone and ring 10 times. If it was 10:15 it would only ring 1 time in the tone for the minutes, 10:30 2 times and 10:45 3 times. At the top of each new hour it rings the number of times the hour is. It also has certain times of the day that the bells just ring rapidly for several minutes. 8:00am when school starts, 12:00 for lunch, and 6:00 for dinner. On Sundays, since the clock tower is attached to the Lutheran church it rings rapidly for when church starts at 9:00. Thankfully it stops ringing at 11:00pm and doesn't start again until 6:00am. each day. It is interesting how the people use this town clock to measure and plan their time. While I also have the cuckoo clock here in the house that tells me what time it is, I have come to depend on the town clock to tell me what time it is. Now, I must tell you that it still does not get me to places on time. I am still late for many things, but I do like the town clock. Matter of fact, it is ringing right now as I type. :)