Thinking With My Hands

We are pretty excited here about the men's curling team winning the Gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Saturday. As we wa...

In thinking about how to 'conclude' this current blog subject, I have decided to add a third segment, in order to make reference to ...

c The need for closure is universal . Recognizing the conclusion to a period of days or weeks of working with your hands is uniquely grati...

I am fascinated with the duality of meaning there exits in dry stone terminology. Bonding, hearting, coping, facing and bedding are just a f...

The herringbone pattern can be an effective design solution for a variety of spacial challenges besides being a merely interesting ornamenta...

Since completing the workshop on Vancouver Island last weekend, I have been thinking a lot about the 'herringbone' pattern. I have a...

While it may be true that it is easier to write about dry stone walling than actually build them, both activities are easier than sitting ar...

I flew home from teaching a course in Victoria BC late last night. My legs and back and hands are weary. I am glad to be home. I hardly noti...

The weather and the many other things change on a whim. Human nature itself is fickle. The stock market fluctuates. The value of our possess...

The great thing about building walls with a random natural stone material is that you have many creative options. Blocks or bricks do not af...

Evan Oxland doesn't have thyme on his hands, but he does have sedum.. When he isn't traveling through Europe inspecting historic sto...

You can tell a lot about a person by looking at their hands. Hands that do physical work are quick to give away their occupation. However, t...

Im not sure where Norman Haddow was when this photo was taken, but this is apparently a picture of his hand. In the email he writes that it ...

A few weeks ago the airlines had a strict no carry-on policy in place. It has changed a little bit now, but when I last travelled to the sta...

Hand to Hand directed by Tamás Wormser of Quebec A baby’s grasp, a lover’s caress, an athlete’s grip, a dancer’s gesture, a craftsman’s ...

My grand daughter was born 5 weeks before my father died on January 29th, 2010. He was eighty-four. He never saw her. If he passes on anythi...

In John Ruskin's extensive book 'The Stones of Venice' which I'm presently reading, I was interested to come across a chapte...

Unlike the few problem-types we come across occasionally, (examples of which I described earlier this week) rocks are simply a pleasure to w...

There's a kind of hard to place rock that thinks it is special and needs special recognition. It's a rock that often 'sticks out...

Another type to be aware of is the 'hard-to-handle' rock. The kind that play and lay 'dirty'. They never seem to be happy wh...