Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Broken Hands of Time

                     

Standing still for a moment…feeling the hands of time rushing over me. Aware of the moment when the clock struck midnight and the moon like a halo above, gracefully lead me to this day. Singular moments of time that have marked me…that have created me. I look up at the moon and dream a mixture of yesterdays, today and tomorrows.

The hands of time reach out, even when I do not want to follow the dance it leads. It takes my hands, I step on its toes, and around and around I go…

photo: Broken, forgotten, worn time pieces. Empty cases, movements rendered still. Gathered over time at the flea markets in France. Piece by piece, second by second time unfolds many stories.

One of my most favorite books of meditations on time, Einstein’s Dreams

Comments

32 responses to “Broken Hands of Time”

  1. Jeanne

    Time is a precious commodity in this very rapid fast paced world. Many have no time for the important things in life.
    Time is fast and fleeting.
    Treasure every single moment.
    Love you Sugar Plum!

    Reply
  2. ParisBreakfasts

    Time, fleeting time…
    Who can catch it and hold it in their hands?
    Clocks and watches would have us think it’s possible.
    Stop the clock!

    Reply
  3. carolyn

    So evocative

    Reply
  4. susan

    EINSTEINS DREAMS! wow, loved that book too corey! i forgot all about it. think i will pick up a copy for daughter #1. so enjoyable… just like this photo… love it a LOT!
    hugs to you and the family – lovely photos of sasha!

    Reply
  5. patpaulk

    Always moves forward, never stands still, it’s on our side, it’s against us,it’s a race, a dance, a lifetime. And, all we ever have is a moment. Hope you have many pleasant moments today!!

    Reply
  6. Pauline Clarke

    Time is such an obvious and yet odd conception. It seems both inevitable and elastic. We can keep track of it or be oblivious to it, but we have no control over it. Is it a river? Is it all there is?

    Reply
  7. naturegirl

    Beautiful writing ..your collections of treasures amazes me!
    So much to do and so little time!!

    Reply
  8. sheila

    Time marched forward even before man invented the clock, but until then, had he ever been late..?

    Reply
  9. Shannon

    It’s nice to let time lead the dance. I like to choose the music though 🙂

    Reply
  10. risa

    hey lady…i’m glad you will be coming to our tea party!

    Reply
  11. Regina Clare Jane

    Thank you for visiting me, Corey. Your blog is so wonderful- it takes me to another place, really- a place of beauty and thoughtfulness. I love your pictures and your writing… so thoughtful. I plan to go through your archives once I return home… Joyeux Noel to you and yours!

    Reply
  12. Linda

    Great writing! Try not to think of passing time too much myself as I get older.

    Reply
  13. Star

    This photo is filled with inspiration–what a collection! It reminds me of an old pocketwatch of my grandfather’s that stopped running, so my mother took it apart and mounted it on red velvet in a shadow box.

    Reply
  14. Teresa Sheeley

    I love your little trinkets. Each tells a story I am sure. I keep ordering these books you recommend. I need to read faster to keep up 🙂

    Reply
  15. AnnieElf

    Corey, your tiny timepieces are exquisite. I collect clocks and this picture of these old pieces reminds me of all the old watches I have laying about and just leaves me breathless.

    Reply
  16. Novel Nymph

    Thank you as always for the meditation…

    Reply
  17. Darla

    Very painterly. Don’t think object, think color.
    The way the white places lead the eye from upper left to lower right, the spark of turquoise in the middle, the russet of the lower background, picked up in the circle lower left, carried across with the two brass pieces and if you look closely it will be spotted in that turquoise center.
    A silvery grey abstract.

    Reply
  18. constance

    To pause and hug time is something I need learn over and over again. Thank you for the reminder!

    Reply
  19. sage

    oh such lovely words for such a lovely image…you have the gift of saying the right things, the right way, so moving, poignant and filled with verve.
    Merry Christmas to you and yours. Until next time,
    sage

    Reply
  20. Blondie

    The hands of time brought me into this world, 23 years ago today 🙂

    Reply
  21. nel

    Time is such a precious gift…one we can’t hold…but experience in the daily moments of life.

    Reply
  22. Mountain Mama

    You do some of the most heart catching pictures!
    Sends me back a lot of years to my first watch, which my parents gave me for Christmas when I was around 13. It was a Bulova Beverly. I though it was made just for me as it had my name.

    Reply
  23. Becca

    Just wanting to wish you a very, very Merry Christmas and thank you for the gift of your lovely blog! God’s Peace, Corey …

    Reply
  24. susanna

    Beautiful post and photograph, Corey. I have a thing for broken clocks, too! I’ve been meaning to thread a ribbon through one of the broken faces and wear it around my neck. And I enjoyed reading Einstein’s Dreams, too. In fact, it’s right here beside me in the bookcase…maybe I’ll read it again over the holidays… Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Michael Ondaantje’s books put the same spell over me.

    Reply
  25. gel

    Timeless photographic composition. Time intriques me, too. It’s magic is well like “Time in a Bottle” a song by the late Jim Croce that I love. I have a collection of watches although I rarely wear them.

    Reply
  26. Tara Larsen Chang

    Perfect photo. I love the watch with the crystal tail lying inside the large empty pocket-watch shell…
    Do you always have poetry and philosophy juxtaposed with art winging around your head?

    Reply
  27. herhimnbryn

    How do I tell the time?
    By the aging of my hands, the grey in my husband’s beard, my nephews so much taller than me,the glasses perched on the end of my nose.

    Reply
  28. cruststation

    I love how everything comes alive in your imagination. Lets dance with time by the light of the moon!

    Reply
  29. Anna

    So beautiful!!
    Anna

    Reply
  30. sarala

    Beautiful. Finding a message in broken things and assembling them together. It is a very poetic photo.
    Happy Holidays.

    Reply
  31. frederiClement

    What I like this picture ! …

    Reply
  32. Robert

    I love how you try to interpret things without being so literal about it. Anyway, hope you can also check out my site and my groomsmen gifts (http://www.executivegiftshoppe.com/groomsmen-gifts.html)
    and let me know what you think of it.

    Reply

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