Although they were not in the blanket box, treasured possessions of my father’s have been poking their noses up too. As we are knee-deep in old house “infrastructure” upgrades, it was the old hammer with the wooden handle that warmed my heart yesterday.
Many of our keepsakes are hand tools which my father inherited from his own father. Grandpa Keele was a fine woodworker, expert at building anything from cabinets to whole houses. Having helped him build two houses, Dad too had learned to be a careful and competent carpenter, although his day job was as an aerospace executive. Thanks to him, we had a garage which perfectly matched the new house, a mahogany-paneled “rec room” and a variety of built-ins which made our lives more comfortable. (One of the only times I saw my mother mad at him was when Dad left her holding a board and went to have a cigarette. Jon, a non-smoker, always claims that is where he is going when I am the one holding a board.)
Of the hand tools, my favourite has always been the Yankee drill which was spring-loaded and could rotate in either direction; whenever I went to the basement to visit with Dad while he worked on a project, I played with it endlessly. Honestly, I have absolutely no aptitude for woodworking but even though the old tools hang beside the workbench and look at me reproachfully, neither Jon nor I have ever been able to say good-bye to them. Beloved hands have valued and used them.
Though I wouldn’t last long as a survivalist (Jon would, fine woodworking being only one his myriad skills), I still feel some comfort in the presence of all of these hand tools - saws, measures, chisels, screwdrivers, planes, whetstones et al. It’s always been at the back of my mind to display them but as far as wall space in a small house goes, art tends to trump utility. Nonetheless, their spare elegance, a beauty born of married form and function, has won the family tools a permanent place in our hearts and in our home.
**As if to remind us of their value, the hand tools occasionally report for duty just when we need them. In a moment of perfect confluency, Jon is buzzing me from the attic to bring him Grandpa’s keyhole saw.
Many of our keepsakes are hand tools which my father inherited from his own father. Grandpa Keele was a fine woodworker, expert at building anything from cabinets to whole houses. Having helped him build two houses, Dad too had learned to be a careful and competent carpenter, although his day job was as an aerospace executive. Thanks to him, we had a garage which perfectly matched the new house, a mahogany-paneled “rec room” and a variety of built-ins which made our lives more comfortable. (One of the only times I saw my mother mad at him was when Dad left her holding a board and went to have a cigarette. Jon, a non-smoker, always claims that is where he is going when I am the one holding a board.)
Of the hand tools, my favourite has always been the Yankee drill which was spring-loaded and could rotate in either direction; whenever I went to the basement to visit with Dad while he worked on a project, I played with it endlessly. Honestly, I have absolutely no aptitude for woodworking but even though the old tools hang beside the workbench and look at me reproachfully, neither Jon nor I have ever been able to say good-bye to them. Beloved hands have valued and used them.
Though I wouldn’t last long as a survivalist (Jon would, fine woodworking being only one his myriad skills), I still feel some comfort in the presence of all of these hand tools - saws, measures, chisels, screwdrivers, planes, whetstones et al. It’s always been at the back of my mind to display them but as far as wall space in a small house goes, art tends to trump utility. Nonetheless, their spare elegance, a beauty born of married form and function, has won the family tools a permanent place in our hearts and in our home.
**As if to remind us of their value, the hand tools occasionally report for duty just when we need them. In a moment of perfect confluency, Jon is buzzing me from the attic to bring him Grandpa’s keyhole saw.
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