Today, after doing some housework, putting on a pot of stew and taking a wander around the local shops, I hung some pictures and other items, among them the clock in the photo.  Not one of my pictures is valuable, if value is measured in pounds sterling, indeed I think this clock, purchased from a mail order catalogue (remember those?) and a twenty first birthday gift from my parents, was expected to last around five years, if I was lucky.

Seemingly, I am lucky, as I have now had it more than forty years, it has survived around ten house moves, has been dropped at least twice (the case is damaged and the glass long gone) but it still works.  It seems, having rehung it today that the chime mechanism, which had been wheezing ever since the last move, has finally failed.  Even so, the pendulum works, the battery powered motor still keeps reasonable time, and my clock 'lives' on.

I guess, in some way, this s a bit like life itself... I too have survived job changes, house moves,  physical and emotional injuries, some bits of my body don't function quite as well as they did, and yet, even if a bit slower, I still live a functional and rewarding life.

The picture hanging stirred many memories - of people and places, moments and milestones - their value will never amount to much in monetary terms, but to me they are priceless.  Again, a bit like life... most of us will never be financially rich or recognisably famous - but to those who love us, and who share our lives, we are immeasurably important and precious.

Maybe its a sign of the passing of time that I notice these things more than I used to. As the cheesy saying puts it, the past is gone and we cannot change it, the future is not promised and we can only wonder what it may bring, but what we have now is a real gift - which is why (super cheesy word play) we call it the present.  I hope my clock has years left to keep time, if not to chime - and that I live each moment to its full value.