By Janelle Conaway for The New York Times
SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, Mexico — Every Monday morning Daniel Vázquez unlocks the door to the clock tower on the central square of this postcard-perfect city and climbs a ladderlike series of wooden steps, 50 in all, to wind a French mechanical clock that has marked the passage of time here for more than 120 years.
He has cared for the clock for the last four of those years, taking over the duties that his father — a watchmaker named Raúl Vázquez, now 77 — handled for about four decades.
It is not a full-time job, but it does require constant attention, Daniel Vázquez said during a recent visit to the 90-foot stone tower. The 42-year-old typically climbs up five times a week to check on the timepiece and make any minor adjustments. And between visits, his ears are attuned to the clock’s three bells, which ring every quarter-hour.
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