A Big Surprise Pulled Out Of The Debris

by Alan B.
(FL)

It looked like a fish aquarium on wooden legs with a bird house on top. From another angle it just looked like an amorphous blue mass.

Anyway, it was just another piece of junk in the garage. Assorted bike parts, old gas cans, and 44 magnum bullet casings littered the floor.

The cluttered garage of a bygone era stood before us. Our task was simply to clean it all up, sell the house, and settle the estate. Hurricane Ike had battered and buckled the main door, and sent waves of water logged debris seeping under the main door.

The odd, fish tank looking thing, was almost entirely covered with a big blue painter’s tarp. It was standing tall on 4 cinder blocks with just a bit of glass visible beneath the blue canopy.

We continued to clear the debris. Friday, was pretty much the same as Thursday and Wednesday had been. Start early in the morning. Drink some Black Silk, and keep attacking the mess.

By Saturday morning there was nothing else left but the big heavy blue mass, and a long-dead Toro. Matt had rented a truck so we could make a run to the garbage dump.

We pulled off the blue tarp, and gasped at the majestic Cherry wood edifice before us. Three cylindrical weights filled the space just below the upper division.

An inscription read, “Ambassador Collection.” Two S-shaped wooden ornaments decorated the top. All of the lines, and curves were precisely cut, and polished.

It seemed to cry out that it was from era of kings and queens. One could easily imagine such a time piece in the palace at Versailles.

An excited search of Ebay confirmed our prize. We now owned a “Howard Miller Stratford Grandfather Clock” with a list price of 5,750.00.