No Hands on my Time!

  Earlier today, I took the time to finally adjust the large cuckoo clock in the living room.  Yes, I do realize that the time change took place quite a bit ago but, hey, it was only an hour off!  Anyway, after I adjusted the hour, I also adjusted the sound part of the clock.  The bird has been sounding off at odd hours and never in sync with the current hour.  No problem..there is a little button on the side of the clock that allows you to reset the number of times the bird does his thing.  Once I was satisfied that all was well and we could now pass the time with ease, I headed to the kitchen to cook.  

   I returned later to find something terribly amiss!  The clock looked vastly different than just an hour before.  I had no time on my hands or, rather more correctly, I had no hands on my time!  Something dire had happened to the clock!  It was missing a hand.  Ok, so figuring it had to be somewhere nearby, I searched the top of the antique buffet.  Nope, the missing hand was not there.  I searched the floor,  Nope, no hand in sight.  I used a flashlight to peer behind the buffet.  Nary a hand could be found.  I got down on my hands and knees to search beneath the piece of furniture...still no hand.  Well, I'll be!  Where was that hand?  I called Son to my rescue.  "Hey, I have a mystery on my hands...errr, lack of hands!" I called upstairs.  He came down and looked at me oddly.  I explained the situation in full detail.  To say he is patient with his old ma is putting it mildly.  He went out to examine the clock.

  After just a few moments, Son had solved the mystery and all was well in the time zone. (heehee) It seems that the hand had fallen off of the clock just as I had suspected but it did not fall far.  The carvings on the cuckoo clock are set a tad out from the main housing of the clock itself. The hand had fallen directly behind the carved wooden bird nest that adorns the front of the clock.  (I think those two birds stole the hand! Perhaps they are crows and like shiny things.)  Since the clock is hung up above the buffet and since I am, ummm...not too tall, I could not see the hiding place.  Son (who towers above me) spied the hand with ease. He replaced the hand calming all my worries.  

  This whole missing hand thing is kind of ironic in itself.  During the last clue hunt, a door key had been hidden in the exact same spot.  Had I been a keen sleuth, I should have realized that the little ledge might have hidden the hand but I guess I am better at making up mysteries than solving them! At least now, time marches on and the hands are doing their fine job of pointing the hour AND minutes.