Counterweight

I spotted an antique cast-iron balance scale sitting beside a crate on the potting shed workbench, its two shallow brass pans dangling from delicate little chains! Naturally, I had to see what it would take to lift me. I scurried over and dropped five plump dried flower bulbs into the right dish, then hopped right into the left one to test the tally. Clink-groan! The horizontal beam tilted with a slow, stately creak. As I planted both bare feet and shifted my weight, down went my brass saucer, hoisting the bulbs up into the air until the pointed needle hovered right on the brass gauge. I balanced there in midair, rocking like a triumphant little pendulum!