My oldest son likes me to watch the Goosebumps television series with him. In one episode, which we have now seen several times, there is a grandfather clock that is enshrouded in mystery. Knowledge of its origin and past is limited to it having come from an antique store. Beyond that, we can only speculate.

This grandfather clock possesses power over time. Small changes to the clock’s internal settings result in its owner going far back in time. While watching this particular episode I have pondered just how fitting it is that a grandfather clock would the instrument of such interference into the space-time continuum. Any clock would serve the purpose of identifying the dimension that is being distorted — time. However, a grandfather clock is appropriate for a more aesthetic reason. There is something about the presence of a grandfather clock that seems to take us back in time — back to less complex times where there is less activity and more relaxation, less confusion and more clarity, less tension and anxiety and more relaxation. It seems that it is not just the grandfather clock in the television episode that is enshrouded in mystery, but all grandfather clocks have an innate quality that effects us, our perception of time and the way we inhabit our world.

I am curious, what other household items do you think have the same power to control our perception of our environment and the way in which we interact with it?