I think I was quite on the 'ball' when I 'passed' this 'hoop' in the 'perimeter' area of Doddon Valley while 'traveling', as it were, in the Lake District. I 'jumped' at the opportunity and took this 'shot' with my camera from the 'back court'.
The picture was a real 'slam dunk' visually, with the contrasting hand and rock imagery. I understand that in basketball slang, the ball is often referred to as a 'rock'. Hands that built walls of rock and stone in the past have now given way to younger hands that play games with balls nicknamed 'rocks'. In 'past times' it was essential to know how to work with rocks building walls and shelters in order to survive. Hands had to do it. Today some of these same walls now serve as backdrops for recreational 'pastimes' and outdoor games. Hands are involved but now there is an element of choice and fun. Hands score on the rebound.
On another note,
I remember my friend Peter Mullins, who ran the large Gradall 6000 rear-'pivot' steering forklift at the 2010 Ventura Stone Symposium, kept a basketball with him at all times, taking breaks now and then to flex and strengthen his hands with it. He told me that exercising, by dribbling the basketball throughout the day, provides a valuable back-stretching for the hands that apparently can not be achieved through any other form of exercise. I watched him not only dribble the ball on his breaks but also gracefully 'pivot' the Gradall many times, as he competed against the Ventura Rocks.
I pretty much get enough hand-exercise still lifting rocks everyday.
