I've always been a bit of a geek.One of the things that fascinated me as soon as I learned about it was a Galilean thermometer. The idea that someone centuries ago used weights and liquid densities to create a beautiful yet functional thermometer filled my head with crazy ideas. They were so beautiful and came in many colors and shapes. For years and years I dreamt of having one and using it to tell the temperature, just like they did way back then when the earth had just started revolving around the sun and not the other way 'round.
Just after I started seriously dating J my wonderful Mom-in-law bought me one for Christmas and I was ecstatic. I used it to tell temperature and loved to watch the color filled glass drops float up and down for hours at a time. We used it as our thermometer in our first apartment together. I remember that when the last ball was sunk to the bottom it meant to call the landlord and tell him to turn up the boiler...it meant it was 14° in the house and he'd turned the heat down too far again! After we moved, I'd put it near one of the heat vent in the house and then move it away, watching the color filled glass beads move up and down. Often the cats would join me and try to figure out how the little things inside were moving about and walk in circles around it sniffing and batting until they gave up for a bit of a nap.
Lately, my theremometer was in the kitchen where I could see it every day and note the temperature whenever it took my fancy to do so...you'll notice I said was.
*sniff*
Last night it broke. I was getting a pan down to warm up supper when it somehow set the thermometer to wobbling..and like a slow motion piece of film it wobbled bath and forth more and more until it tipped off and fell to the floor, shattering spectacularly into a squillion pieces. After some moping and tears I cleaned it up. The little coloured drops from inside that floated about to tell the temperature survived, oddly enough. I've put them somewhere safe until I can bear to look at them again without my lip quivering. Maybe I'll do something with them as they are awfully pretty.
All I know is, for the next while until I can replace it I'll have to use the thermostat to tell the temperature like all you normal people out there.
*sigh*
How boring...
2 comments:
Oh! That sounds awful! I saw some of these in a shop a few weeks back and they were expensive - especially the big ones - and I could easily imagine one accruing a super-sized dollop of sentimental value as well.
BUT: as long as the little balls are intact, it strikes me that the only thing you need is a large enough container of water to make it work again. The little balls are the most important part, surely?
Oh, now I want one! But there's so much junk in this house it would probably get lost. Still, I was reminded of a long perspex keyring my mother gave me - it has liquid inside, with coloured sequins and glitter - you turn it one way and then the other, and it all whooshes down the length of the tube like an elongated snowstorm. I got it out to look at it - Sharky was watching it as well.
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