Idle Hands

"Idle hands are work for the devil," my grandfather used to say. He was always busy doing something; painting, drawing, wood-carving, photography, and when he tuned in the outer limits on his ham radio.

If he were alive today, there would have been so much we would have had in common, except for his ham radio hobby. Perhaps today he would have enjoyed conversing with people in far away places via Twitter, or facebook, or Opuss instead, but then again maybe not, because old fashion is as old fashion does sometimes. He probably would have stuck to the air waves, but who knows?

I am a lot like him, so my mother, his daughter, tells me. Creative. Imaginative. Busy with my hands, as evident by my "click-clacking" at this soundless iPad keyboard.

It would have been great fun to go on outings with him to paint landscapes. It would have been great fun to whittle some wood and drop shavings at our feet. It would have been great fun to hear him talk to his friends from across the seas and lands.

He worked as an engineer on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Again, busy with with his hands. But I only really knew him from his retirement days, his hobbies, and his quiet kindness.

I wish I had known my grandfather better, but he died when I was nine from a heart attack. His art hangs on my walls. Small wooden animals remind me of his patience and delicate hands. A picture of him and my grandmother are proudly displayed. They are all I have left of him, along with these few memories.

~Jonathan Westbrook