I miss my dad too. This is nice. I have draws full of wires, adapters, and motherboards and computer parts. I don't know why. Something inside me wants to think I am some sort of electrical engineer or computer wizard, when really, I'm not. But, I won't part with my draws! LOL

as a carpenter might say, "you write good."
i'm struck by what you say about your father. my mom's father died long before i was born, and i've always regretted not having known him. by all accounts he was an amazing man, greatly loved and greatly missed by all who knew him. but one of the thing's mom describes again and again from when she was a child was being fascinated with grandpa's various tools. levels and wood chisels. plumb lines and hand planers. hammers. simple objects made to get a job done, but containing within them an inherent beauty and meaning which transcends the utilitarian. sort of like people.

thanks for writing this, and grandpa thanks you too.

This is a small, but loving tribute to those folks who have some physical mastery of their worlds. My dad was one, and i try to be one myself. When I'm in my studio, time goes away.......

I'm a tool guy.
I have some of the tools and other things which belonged to my father.
He was a radio/telephone and electrical engineer.
He had retired from CBS in Chicago where he was their cheif engineer.
He was really good at it.
I'm one of those guys who can look at something and, immediately understand how it works.
This does NOT include women.lol
A freind once suggested that I get into real estate as, I have a good personality for sales, etc.
Well, I went to the 3 day school to get a license, aced the test and couldn't stand sitting at a desk.
I missed my tools.
My tools define me.
I have this little appliance repair business in which I work alone out of my home.
I'm 69(I've never been this old before) and still enjoy it.
I know that I'm fortunate in being able to be who I am vocationally as, there are so many poeple stuck in jobs they hate and/or are dead end jobs.

There is only one part of being a tool guy which sucks.
When I fix something of my own, I can't give anybody a bill.lol

Too bad we can't edit our own posts.
I would change "cheif" and "freind".

My father was a "jack of all trades" and had a M.B.A. and taught
my brothers to be handy around the house. He also was a Guidance
Counselor and an English teacher. He taught me how to learn. That
gift included the ability to learn how to work with tools, as an artist,
and a few male studio mates continued that until I managed to realize
that women could write and work with their hands and fix anything
that did not require exceptional muscles. I have always admired
plumbers ,electricians and carpenters and mechanics. They make
our world go. I have a friend who is a "writer" who told me that
I cannot write since I am a visual artist. I do not believe in labels
or categories. It has been scientifically proven that the brain can
expand and heal and new skills can be learned at any age, with
practice and interest.

I can see how you miss your father. I began working at a very young age in the family construction business. My toys were tinker toys erector sets and lego logs. I've always loved building things and puzzles. Loved your post.

Sweet post. Very evocative.

Remember that country song, "Daddy's Hands." Your post reminds me of that. Makes me feel the same way.

This is lovely and whoever that carpenter was --

write away. I don't tend to be overly religious but Jesus was a carpenter and people seemed to want to hear his POV ;0)

I was the youngest of 3 girls - the one with a knack for working with my hands and not caring if I got hurt or dirty. By the time I came along my dad had given up any hope of having a son - and since I was interested, he showed me how to fix , make and tinker. I loved his workshop in the basement - all the hand tools hanging neatly on the pegboard walls, the power tools and the big standing jigsaw.

I have a similar workshop in my basement now - though I have to say it is needing a bit of organization.....

Thanks for this memory stirring piece

woke up to 10 comments! wow. the most i've had -- and all at once! [ sigh] sorry for the long post but here goes....

Thank you all so very much. I'm moved by your comments and delighted that so many of you are remembering your own friends and relatives.

screamin, i can't let go of this stuff either... makes me laugh sometimes. thanks.

nanatehay, tools are beautiful -- i remember this great ad campaign many moons ago when black & decker had their tools shot as art pieces. it made me drool. thanks.

gary, indeed. i write often about my pen, the ink, the paper. these are my tools and they are physical and my camera, too. my dad always said be sure to have the right tools for the job... love artists' studios and cans of brushes. i'll put up some of those photos to. thanks.

thanks XJS, i'm glad you realized you couldn't be at a desk and being paid to do something you love is the ultimate. no worries about typos here.

thanks andygrace, yes about women, and yes about learning all the timed, and yes about labels and look at all the tools around us and how we all use our hands -- kneading dough, wire whisks, baseball bats, cameras, pens... and the list goes on.

thanks michael -- love the built environment, wrote a couple of books with a construction buy about sustainable building, including tire houses -- love watching the whole thing come together. it's a good trade.

seattleKB, thanks so much. i love evocative. i'm glad my piece is that for you.

thanks Dorinda -- i'm trying to get that carpenter to "out" himself...

thanks artsfish -- yes i love workshops, art studios, hardware stores, kitchen gadget stores, garage workbenches... so glad to know you have this too.

thanks Umbrellakinesis.... i just love all these memories we have and the little details that connect us.

This is so good and the memories you write about have caused a flood of my own.

My stepdad, the one who raised me as his own, was a tenant farmer, worked in a brick factory firing the kilns, a handy man, mechanic, substitute mail carrier, factory floor assembler, carpenter and laborer and many more. His work was to feed and clothe his family of my Mom, me and my four half brothers. We moved constantly, to where ever there was work for a wonderful man with a third grade education. We were always dirt poor, one step away from having nothing but his love and support. By the time I graduated high school I had gone to 14 different schools.

I loved him beyond comprehension. And when he died a few years ago a part of me went with him. Blood could not have made me love him more, and, while he was a taciturn man, I never doubted for one minute that I was "his" boy.

Bless you for bring up these bitter sweet memories. I need to come to grips with his death much better than I have, and I can't begin to do that until I do the necessary memory work.

Monte

monte, welcome. thank you so much. i have met all my goals when my stories connect others with something in their own lives. i sort of want to take these father stories and put them together in a book. wouldn't that be great? an OS stories of our fathers book... i could do that via something like lulu and voila.....

am thinking about your motorcyles.... took some photos for the sirens a woman's motorcycle club in new mexico -- may post a few of those ....

another post in the same vein:
http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=62649

Hands are one of the most sensual parts of the body to witness in motion, whether they are used as an extension of verbal expression, holding another's, creating beautiful works of art or tending to something that requires a fix or attention. They speak volumes about the person who owns them. I look at my mother's hands often as time marches on. I never want to forget them. Rated.

thanks cartouche. i love the look of them. usually in motion. they have so much strength, character, and the ability to be gentle too. love that my piece connected to your experience.

" love bridges and buildings. i love pittsburgh because along the river are these huge huge gears rusting away from the times of great building -- of the carnegies and the mellons and the steel works -- examples of what men can build with their hands."

That is perfect.

thanks chicago guy. i'm following your posts too. thanks for visiting.

Do you hate capital 'I's ? :)

heheheh T ... i see where you might get a complex from the post and the comments.... now to see if you always use big Ts.... [grin]

Wonderful post!
My Dad's hands were thick-fingered and strong. I remember him digging out mink teeth from the ham of his thumbs in the evenings. My husband's hands are rough and scarred, and I love them.

we could write about men's hands and scars and how appealing they can be. love the connections we make -- my father to yours. yum.