Seen here with some of the others who attended one of the earliest Dry Stone Walling Across Canada training courses Mary and I ran at Balsam Lake Ontario back in May of 2004, Hilary Martin went on that same year to participate with ten other stone enthusiasts in the building of Springdale Bridge. This was a bridge building workshop we ran during the first ever DSW Across Canada festival, held in Port Hope Ontario back in October 2004, Thanksgiving weekend.
In trying to describe to me how amazingly different the mental process was learning to build with stones, she exclaimed " It's like,.. like - thinking with my hands!"
" That's it, " I said. " That's the best explanation yet I've heard for describing what it is that makes walling such a cool thing. "
She very kindly gave me permission to use the expression 'thinking with my hands', and I have continue to do so ever since, in workshops, and many of the talks I've given about walling, and of course later on in 2010 it became the title and main theme of this blog.
Over the years Hilary has gone on to attend many walling events and has become a proficient thinker both with her hands and as well as with her keen analytical mind.
It was a treat to meet up with her again and work together back at the Perth Dry Stone Bridge Festival last August. Thanks Hilary for your friendship and your continuing inspiration.
"Yes, I know it was your idea, but it was my idea to use it"
