My Hands
I think anyone would be hard-pressed to infer what I do for a living from my hands. My hands are long. The fingers are longer than the hands themselves. I don’t know if this is a rare phenomenon or not. To look at my hands you would swear I have never done manual labor—and you would be right. I have no wrinkles or visible lines on the backof my hands. Their skin is smooth; the nails well-manicured. The only anomaly, on them is what used to be a large callous on the third finger of my right hand. Now it is barely visible, but you can still see it if you look closely, especially after I have written in pen and ink (I am an incurable letter writer. I believe that part of the soul and spirit is transmitted when one writes on paper in pen and ink, much more so than on a word processor. The callous also shows up after gardening if I fail to use gloves because the dirt grinds into the crevices that are still there like the sediment one can see in glaciers. I am awkward with my hands. I can paint, draw, write and even drive a nail or pull up a bush with them, but I feel they rebel when such action takes place. Turn my hands over and my palms stare you in the face. Again, no wrinkles, definitely no callouses, but many, many lines.
Fortune tellers would have a field day with my hands, but I do not frequent that profession. Life is a mystery to pursue the future through a third party obviates everything I believe in.
6 comments:
Barbara, I liked your "soul and spirit" reference because I think most of us can relate to it and because it expresses your ability to "open up" as you have done in this essay. FYI, your last sentence is confusing, probably due to a punctuation typo. Frank
Hi Barbara
Hopefully this blogging technology will come easier to you and you can enjoy the class more.
I love the details you notice--I like that you notice how the fingers are longer than the hands themselves.
The manual labor observation--I think people can read into socioeconomic class by the way hands are dressed in rings (or not) and through nails as well.
I think the letter writing callous is interesting as well. It is something that I bet many people don't get anymore. And a very specific detail that I like.
I also like the image of the dirt in the crevices--very visual, sensual detail.
We learn a lot about who you are, what you believe in, what you've done in your life--through the specific example of your hands. Great job!
I was left wondering what you actually do and who you are. I liked the reference to your hands doing the job but rebelling at certain tasks. I also enjoyed learning that you prefer your lines not to be read because life is about living and discovering firsthand.
Part of your soul and spirit was transmitted when you wrote this blog. I can see you writing this with a fountain pen and then typing it into the word processor to send to all of us and the world. The callous takes on a life of its own and always pops out at you. Nice job.
Barbara-
I thought your post was sentimental and thoughtful, and showed your deep side. The glaciers metaphor really jumped out at me in a vivid way.
Hello Barbara,
It never occured to me to compar finger and hand length. Mine are equal as is probably most common. That your "fingers are longer than your hands" evokes interest
I'm curious to know how you learned about sediment in glaciers. If from personal observation, you must have some neat stories to tell.
I like your use of the words, anomaly and obviates. Good use of language.
I too like to write letters and only use fountain pens
Thanks for your contribution.
Best,
Hal Fishbein
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