Hands

119 Replies

Hands.

I love them,

Paul Engle "Paul Engle" by Source. Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of Paul Engle" href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Engle.jpg">Fair use via Wikipedia.

Paul Engle “Paul Engle” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

especially helping hands,

 

‘Don’t wait for the wind to blow you through the door,
If you need help, here is my hand, I said.’
( Moving In by Paul Engle, 1908-1991)

creating words to hold the soul.

‘..We live by no mind that is only reason,
For there are in us strengths older than thought –
Memory of moon-earthed seeds, the treason
Of spring in our hearts, old family-named corn lands –
Eternal in us as ancestral-wrought
Curve of our thigh and the gripped shape of hands.’

( Earth in our Blood by Paul Engle, 1908-1991)

Curve and shape of hand

Curve and shape of hand, hold the soul.

This post is dedicated to Linda at  The Task at Hand, and to all those bloggers who pursue the craft of the wordsmith.

'..........I said your hand Was curved like wave-marks on the sand.' Lost Things by Paul Engle 1908-1991

‘……….I said your hand
Was curved like wave-marks on the sand.’ Lost Things by Paul Engle 1908-1991

 

© silkannthreades

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119 thoughts on “Hands”

  1. Robbie

    I love them too:-) I find my way with my hands in this world…I create with mine and to feel the soil this spring makes me more alive each day!

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  2. Mrs. P

    I have always enjoyed images of weathered faces and have thought that a series of hands, old and new…smooth and rough…would be a beautiful collection. I think I’d prefer them in black and white as so much can be read into the life of one’s hands.

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  3. shoreacres

    Oh, my. Not only is your dedication gracious beyond belief, with your mention of Paul Engle you’ve stirred memory, regret, curiosity.

    I attended two summer workshops at the University of Iowa while Engle still was head of the Writers’ Workshop. I wasn’t a part of that, of course; I was part of a high school program that included debate, original oratory, interpretive reading, and so on. We lived in the university dorms, were taught by university staff, and for a month immersed ourselves in words. (We immersed ourselves in campus life, too — but that was a different matter.)

    Those workshops raised in me the desire to write. Unfortunately, nothing much ever came of it. Rather than coming back, and pursuing a degree in English, or writing, or communication, I finally landed in social work, which was practical. English degrees were eminently impractical.

    At any rate, those were fine times. My second year, I won the original oratory contest with a piece on the Founding Fathers and their vision for America. The contest was held in the Senate chamber of the old state Capitol building, and it was quite something. I do remember how my hands shook while I was waiting outside the chamber for my turn!

    But what I most enjoyed was interpretive reading. One of my longer pieces was another poem by Engle: “America Remembers.” I think this section is especially good.

    These were not heroes with the gods behind them
    But humble people, clerks and farmers, merchants,
    Soldiers and traders, foreign-speaking men,
    Cobblers and carpenters, preachers, even, and tailors,
    Many with wives and children, who, had they known
    The actual danger, would have been content
    To let the wild dream go, and let the West
    Be their own familiar fields where sunset
    Lingered an hour in twilight before it ran
    The Juaniata with bare feet and jumped the peaks.
    These were simple folk, but chosen to prove again
    That when a man and his destiny have met
    In the high narrow place where there is room
    For only one, man with a shout will rise
    And laugh into the eager face of death
    To loom an hour against the fires of fate
    Somehow divine, but always with his feet
    Touching the proud and certain earth.

    I have some thinking to do, Ann. Thank you for this wonderful, albeit gentle, prod.

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Linda, I am thrilled that my post connected on so many levels with you. I had a hunch you would like Paul Engle, if you did not already know him, but I had no idea your life was so entwined with the University of Iowa at a time when Paul Engle was still there. ( Aren’t those high school summer workshops @ universities wonderful? My daughter did a summer programme like that at Syracuse ( I think).) The passage you quote from America Remembers is echoed in many of your recent posts on the early settlers of Texas. Iowa University and Engle were formative experiences for you. Perhaps it’s time to consider another workshop? http://writersworkshop.uiowa.edu/summer-programs/summer-programs

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      1. shoreacres

        Some things I just don’t think about, like writing workshops and overseas travel. It simply isn’t affordable. Money may not buy happiness, but it’s necessary for some of life’s little luxuries. 😉

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  4. Wendy L. Macdonald

    What a generous and talented man Paul Engle was. I doubt for a second he regretted holding his hand out to others. It’s the kindness and encouragement of the giants that often prevents a fledgling writer from giving up. Lovely post and tribute. What a sweet couple he and his wife make–the talented two.

    Blessings ~ Wendy ❀

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Talented two; like you and your husband. 😀 Yes, Paul Engle was generous, especially in his support for writers. I like that his main objective seems to have been in supporting writers in their love of their craft, and giving them the freedom to be disengaged from concerns about the selling/commercialisation of their writing. However, attendance at the Writers’ Workshops does seem to help literary success eg our Canadian/New Zealand writer, Eleanor Catton, whose book The Luminaries I am reading now.

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  5. Kate Johnston

    I can’t believe I’m not familiar with Paul Engle — what lovely poetry. Soothing, yet encouraging. I must find more of his work. I really like hands too, and all the metaphors that go along with them.

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      I don’t have any access to his books at the moment, so the only poems I have read are those that are available online. Most of those I love. This checklist https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/scua/bai/weber.htm gives an idea of the scope of Engle’s work. I am amazed at how many times he mentions hands in the few poems I have read. Maybe someone needs to do a thesis on the significance of hands in Paul Engle’s work…..perhaps someone already has. 😉

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  6. Tiny

    Wonderful imagery. We all need a curved hand to hold our soul…and hands symbolize so much beauty whether producing writings or musical notes, or pieces of art. And they are about helping & friendship, like Vera Nazarian says in The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration “Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone’s hand is the beginning of a journey. At other times, it is allowing another to take yours.”

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  7. anotherday2paradise

    A lovely post, Gallivanta. Loved the photos and Paul Engle quotes. I’m reminded of that old Max Bygrave song:
    You need hands to hold someone you care for
    You need hands to show that you’re sincere
    When you feel nobody wants to know you
    You need hands to brush away the tears

    When you hold a brand new baby
    You need tender hands to guide them on their way
    You need hands to thank the Lord for living
    And for giving us this day

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  8. lisadorenfest

    These days, I find more comfort in pictures than words (so I do not fit into the category of bloggers who pursue the craft of the wordsmith). But I do appreciate a great visual and adore the one in this post entitled ‘Curve and shape of hand, hold the soul’ as well as the Hennaed hands in the sidebar. And even though I am more easily moved by pictures these days, I loved the words to ‘Move In’. Thank you! Lovely post.

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Thank you. Strangely, although my dedication was to the wordsmith, I was in a very visual mood when I put together this post. I am glad you liked the photo of the hand (mine 😉 ) with tumbler. I can see the comfort you take in pictures in the beautiful photos you post on your blog.

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  9. Aquileana

    Paul Engle´s words are beautiful and your post, truly powerful… As we are used to them we almost don´t recognize the value and importance of our hands… quite odd…
    I liked the fact that you mentioned a more pragmatic and maybe creative approach at the end, as a sort of tribute to those who pursue the craft of the wordsmith…. ⭐
    Thank for sharing. All my best wishes / happy day to you, dear Gallivanta. Aquileana 😀

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  11. Zambian Lady

    Hands – they do so much for us and then we take them for granted. Your post has reminded me of one of my favorite Bill Withers’ songs: Grandma’s hands.

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  12. clarepooley33

    A lovely post, Gallivanta. I must plead ignorance – I had never heard of Paul Engle before.
    I also love hands as they are so expressive. Animated and in repose they say so much about the person to whom they belong. My hands no longer do easily what I’d like them to. I used to be proud of my straight strong fingers but unfortunately they are that no longer. My husband’s hands are very large – he is 6′ 3″ tall. My father’s hands were calloused and hard and had a couple of finger tips missing (as had his Father’s hands). My father was a cabinet maker and made beautiful furniture.

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Clare, my poetry education, such as it was, was very British-centric. A few American poets were mentioned, and NZ poets were barely there, as far as the curriculum was concerned. So there are huge numbers of poets I am meeting for the very first time, via other bloggers. It’s wonderful. As for hands; you are so right; even in silent repose they speak volumes. And, as your father’s hands attest, physical imperfections, have their own beautiful stories to tell. Do you still have some of your father’s furniture? I don’t know who made my mother’s glory box, but, as the daughter of a cabinet maker, you may like to look at this post; the post that rekindled my interest in Paul Engle.https://silkannthreades.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/2354/#comments

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      1. clarepooley33

        Like you my poetry education was also British-centric; in fact, now I come to think of it, was exclusively British! Shocking really. All the literature I read at school was British except for set books in German and French and my mother’s books were almost all by British authors. I don’t remember our library stocking many books by non-British authors. I read those lovely children’s books from the States – Little Women, Ann of Green Gables, What Katy Did, Little House in the Big Wood but none from NZ, Australia, Africa, Canada. It was only when my mother went back out to work when I was in my mid-teens that she began to treat herself now-and-then with a new book and she began to buy novels written by non-British authors. But no poetry from anywhere else. I was able to branch out and buy different books when I started work.
        I do have a couple of pieces of furniture made by my father but he didn’t spend much time making things for the family. The things I have are of no value except sentimental value as he used scraps of wood to make them and didn’t spend much time on them. He found it boring and would only do it when forced into a corner! I have a small round table and a couple of bookcases. My mother has a dresser and some bookcases. He loved more than anything, to work in churches and there are plenty around England that have his work in them.
        Thank-you for the link. I really enjoy the way you write: you love the objects you write about and make the reader interested in them too. Your Glory-box post is a wonderful story about discovery. My father could never understand people’s attachment to things or buildings – my mother is a hoarder! There was often friction between the two of them!

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        1. Gallivanta Post author

          Mmmm….. I can imagine the friction! My father doesn’t have much attachment to things either, whereas my mother certainly does. However, because they live with my sister now, their material possessions are few. Lots of books though!
          Have you attempted to catalogue/record your father’s work in the churches? Perhaps you have already written a post on the subject.

        2. clarepooley33

          No – no post yet and no catalogue. I keep thinking I ought to do something about it. My father never kept records as he did the work to the glory of God and had no wish to be remembered. My mother remembers many of the things he did so I should get the information from her asap. I do remember one thing that happened that hurt him very much. St Katharine’s Dock in London’s Dockland was badly damaged during the 2nd WW. During the 70’s work started to convert the area into a marina and hotels and restaurants were built round the water-basin. There was a church there which was renovated and my father was asked to help. He made a most beautiful altar using ancient timber found on the site. He and my mother went to the Blessing service when the church was reopened. A few months later he was contacted and told that the church had been broken into and the altar removed and thrown into the old dock. He was terribly upset. I know he refused to do anymore work there.

        3. Gallivanta Post author

          How heart-breaking for your father (and for the church!). As for making a record of his work, you can only do what you can do. Even one small record would be nice. Most of the stone work and brick work done by my forebears has gone now ( some of it in the earthquakes) but, like your father, my ancestors were not building monuments for themselves; they were building for the community, for the church, and to put some food on the table. I am sad there are so few lasting recording of their work, but they would probably be surprised by my sadness.

        4. clarepooley33

          Yes, they probably would and I think that is how it should be. Our idea of our identity is bound up with knowing who our forebears were and having something that belonged to them – being able to see it and touch it – means such a lot to us.
          The church my mother still attends is full of Dad’s work so I ought to start there.

        6. clarepooley33

          I found this link fascinating; and as with all your posts, one link leads to another just like a conversation or a train of thought. I was so interested by the newspaper article on the Cathedral bells. I believe our bell-ringers sent a donation. When I went on holiday with my husband and younger daughter to northern Germany, we visited Lubeck Cathedral which was very badly damaged in 1942 by an air-raid. They lost all but one of their bells (which is now somewhere else). Two of the shattered bells have been left at the bottom of the old bell tower as a memorial. The floor of the cathedral has been left as it was in that place too. We were terribly affected by the sight and by the records of the terrible damage the RAF raid caused. We felt so guilty!
          I am so glad that you have this record of all your lost churches, though looking at the photographs must bring back rather bitter-sweet memories.

        7. Gallivanta Post author

          Support for our bells came from far and wide, so it is very likely your bell-ringers sent a donation. The bells are home again in Christchurch but, for now, they are in storage, awaiting a place in which to be hung. Even though they are not ringing, it’s good to know they are here.
          Seeing a broken cathedral is hard at any time, but especially so when the damage was caused by war. The two church structures that I remember (only vaguely now) are Coventry Cathedral and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

        8. clarepooley33

          I have been to Coventry Cathedral but some time ago. I like the way they kept the shell as a memorial and built a new, vastly different cathedral to worship in.

        9. Gallivanta Post author

          I would like something similar to be done with our Anglican Cathedral here but the whole rebuild is bogged down in disagreement over how it should be rebuilt. I will be lucky if I see the Cathedral rebuilt in my life-time, let alone here the bells.

        10. clarepooley33

          That is so sad! It is unfortunate that people forget to work for the common good and let their own personal needs get in the way. I can see that with such an important building care should be taken but also, with such an important building, decisions like the how and where should be made as soon as possible or people will become disheartened. A cathedral in a city is so much a part of the identity of the city itself and is a focal point for residents and visitors alike, Christian and non-Christian.

        12. clarepooley33

          I think my father would have approved. He loved making things for churches and for the glory of God but he also believed that the people of the church are much more important than the buildings. Many, many of our old churches are extremely expensive to maintain and our congregations are getting smaller. My father was quite controversial in his belief that we should close many of our churches and ‘downsize’. He spent a few years as a novice Franciscan friar and was never bothered about belongings or buildings. He made a vow of poverty and never really retracted that vow when he left the friary, got re-aquainted with my mother and married. He was a very difficult man to live with as he never had any idea of the value of money but I loved him dearly!

        13. Gallivanta Post author

          Your father’s views would still be considered controversial by some in New Zealand, but many church goers in Christchurch, post earthquakes, have come to realise that it is the people, not the church buildings that matter. They would be on your father’s side. I love old churches. I used to find great comfort sitting in our cathedral and absorbing the years of prayer accumulated in that sacred space. But there is such need in our community that I would be happy to have a simple building which would then free resources for the Anglican church to give a big heart and a helping hand to all those needing justice/decent living conditions. However, I am not an Anglican, so, quite rightly, my opinion is not relevant. 🙂

        16. clarepooley33

          No need for apology! I am still amazed by the fact that two people living thousands of miles apart can carry on a conversation of sorts and can talk about a range of subjects.
          Which reminds me – I see that you are reading The Luminaries. What do you think of it? My husband bought it for me for Christmas 2013 just after it had won the Man Booker Prize. I found it hard to get into at first – so many characters, so much happening at different times , so many unexplained events – as well as trying to remember that the seasons in NZ are different to here and lots of rain falls in the summer! About half way through I suddenly ‘got’ the book and was hooked! An exceptional book for such a young woman to have written.

        17. Gallivanta Post author

          It is amazing to have these conversations. 🙂 I was also given the Luminaries for Christmas 2013, but it looked so large and daunting, I put off reading it. Then, this year when I had my meltdown, I needed something complex to distract my mind, and this was perfect. The first little bit was difficult but, like you, I was hooked eventually. I am getting close to the end now….. My biggest problem with the book is the size of it! Holding it up in bed gets tiring. I find the setting fascinating because I know the places. As I have read, I have wondered, though, how others, living afar, would see the setting of the novel. So it’s good to know how you coped with the complexities of the stories as well as those of the NZ setting. It is an exceptional book.

        18. clarepooley33

          I too had difficulties with such a large tome in bed. I see the paperback is much smaller and lighter! When reading I have to get the setting right. I have to know the where, when and how or I get confused. Once I had done a little research on the internet & looked at my atlas etc I was fine!

  13. Ellen Grace Olinger

    Paul Engle is a new poet for me – thank you. I love the song by Jewel, but have not heard for a time. My mother and I held hands, and after her passing, I held the Bible I read to her.

    Many blessings, Ellen

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      What a blessing for both of you, Ellen. I love to hold my daughter’s hand even though she is a grown woman now. In my opinion we are never too old or too young to hold hands. Bibles that have been held and cherished over many years have a special quality to them. I have my great-grandmother’s Bible. It is a treasure.

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  14. Mélanie

    wonderful and impressive dedication, Lady-G… ❤
    ”Donne-moi tes mains que mon cœur s’y forme…” – “Give me your hands so that my heart could shape itself inside…”(Louis Aragon)

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        1. Gallivanta Post author

          Merci beaucoup. That is sublime. Now I must ask where was my ‘Louis Aragon’ to create poetry for me ? I may have to craft a love poem to myself. 😉

        2. Steve Schwartzman

          Aragon was alive until 1982, so you could have requested a love poem. Now you may indeed have to craft one for yourself, or perhaps you can find a modern Aragon to ask.

      2. Mélanie

        some of Louis Aragon’s poems have been sung by Jean Ferrat, a close friend of the poet… he has a wonderful voice, you’ll find him @ youtube, of course… 🙂 oh, Aragon also stated:”la femme est l’avenir de l’homme…” – “woman is man’s future…” – I totally agree with him! 🙂

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        1. Gallivanta Post author

          Ah, yes, I did find Jean Ferrat after I googled the link Steve gave me. He does have a wonderful voice; gave me goosebumps of the heart. 🙂

    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Now those are truly beautiful hands. Where was my ‘Alfred Stieglitz’ when I needed him? However, it’s one thing to take magnificent photos of someone else’s hands, quite another to take photos of one’s own hands. Even Moholy-Nagy needed help to take this famous hand photo http://monoskop.org/images/thumb/2/25/Moholy-Nagy_Laszlo_1925-26_Portrait_by_Lucia_Moholy.jpg/258px-Moholy-Nagy_Laszlo_1925-26_Portrait_by_Lucia_Moholy.jpg. All things considered, I am a dab hand at taking hand photos of my own hands. 😀 Your link led me to the Henry Buhl Hand Collection.

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      1. Steve Schwartzman

        You’re a dab hand at using expressions that are new to me, like dab hand. The Henry Buhl collection was also new to me, but from your video I see that he was pretty handy at acquiring photographs that appealed to him. We’ve got to hand it to him for his persistence.

        Is it too late for you to find a handy Alfred Stieglitz, or are you content to handle that yourself?

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  17. Joanne Jamis Cain

    I remember as a young girl I would often play with my dad’s hands, especially when in church (because the service was long!). He was 6’2″ at least and he had very large hands. I loved them though and often would lay mine on his. I have long fingers, something I am grateful for. How could we live without our hands? I’m sure we could but this makes me appreciate them so much more. xo

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      A sweet memory, indeed. My father wasn’t much of a church goer, but I do recall how much I loved walking with him, hand in hand, to the cinema. I played a lot with my mother’s hands, mainly because I was fascinated by her rings. I have my mother’s long fingers and big knuckles, but the shape of my hand is like my father’s and grandmother’s. Being without hands is the subject of a strange old fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, The Girl without Hands. The poet Anne Sexton has an interesting modern take on it in her book Transformations. http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=HwzuL_w5PeAC&pg=PA81&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false Perhaps when we don’t have the use of our hands we learn to love other parts of our body as if they were hands. I rather like my feet, ( hate my thighs, though. 😉 ).

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      I was thinking of your love of hands and the hand-made as I was writing. Your handiwork is handsome. Do you ever find hands as a subject on vintage linen, handtowels, or dishtowels?

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  23. Clanmother

    Most times, we think that what we do is of little consequence. Your post is a reminder that we all have hands – and we all can make a difference. I find it is easier to lend a hand that accept a hand. Perhaps we don’t want to be a burden or we think that our problems are too small to share with another. We have been taught to “be strong.” Sometimes asking for help shows strength – not weakness. A great post.

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  24. Playamart - Zeebra Designs

    For you and for our dear Linda, this song seems appropriate.

    You two are surely kindred spirits and soul mates, even if your paths don’t cross in the physical plne, they’re intertwined in the spiritual one. Z

    Reply ↓
    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Dear Z of the lovely painting hands, this is perfect, perfect, perfect. It will have to be my anthem of the month. Is the hand you use for your avatar your favourite hand painting?

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      1. Playamart - Zeebra Designs

        … and back to you, lovely amiga. the red hand is a replica of a ‘sello’ (stamp) from the Jama-Coaque Indian culture where I now live. probably my favorite is very large painting of an artifact in a museum in Quito. https://playamart.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/mano-de-la-paz-finds-a-new-home/

        that’s my favorite painting, yet the bright-red and much-smaller watercolor comes in with a very close second place.

        I’m glad you like the song; jewel’s music is very comforting.

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  25. womanseyeview

    They are important to who we are because of how we use our hands – for good or evil. I do though look at mine some days and see how aging has changed them…then there is my baby grandson who is just learning the mischief that his perfectly formed digits can get into!

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Yes, our hands, sadly, can do great damage. They need constant reminding that their work must be kindness. And, Carol, although your hands have aged (like mine have!), I am sure your baby grandson loves holding them and exploring them, and discovering the security they give to his world.

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        1. Gallivanta Post author

          I loved the photo of your gorgeous grandson in your latest post. I can imagine his little fingers exploring that grass and trying to get some of it into his mouth. As far as putting forbidden items in his mouth is concerned, I am sure he could give that old granny eating wolf in Ikea a run for his money!

  26. lensandpensbysally

    I thoroughly enjoyed Engle’s ability to capture his mind’s vision through his words. You created a thought provoking gathering of ideas about a subject that has been well treated by artists of all media. Thanks, I really enjoyed the rhythmic assemblage.

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Thank you Sally. You may be interested in the video I have put in the comment to Steve about the Henry Buhl Hand Collection. The collection featured work by Moholy-Nagy, who said, according to this video https://youtu.be/C6dRjd_oRH8 , “that not knowing how to use the camera would be the 20th Century form of illiteracy.” I expect you may agree with that.

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      1. lensandpensbysally

        His comment certainly is applicable today. We could have a marvelous debate about the stilling of a moment, especially with today’s obsession with “snapping” everything and anything, including the self. See you soon. Thanks.

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    1. Gallivanta Post author

      I hope your coffee warmed your hands, and prepared them for the day ahead. 🙂 I remember as a university student I drank a lot of coffee. One day, I decided to cut back drastically. The sudden withdrawal of caffeine made my hands tremble! I was most surprised.

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      1. Cynthia Reyes

        It did warm my hands. I hope I never get the trembles! Probably not, as
        I have one cup of coffee every morning.

        Make that one cup of milk with a bit of coffee. The fragrance of coffee reminds me of my childhood in Jamaica.

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        1. Gallivanta Post author

          Milky coffee; so gooooood. And Jamaican coffee is superb. I don’t see it much in the shops anymore, ( but maybe it’s there and I am just not looking carefully enough). I restrict myself to 2 cups of coffee each day.

        2. Cynthia Reyes

          What kind of coffee do you drink? We use espresso, which may explain why the cup is more than half full of milk. I wonder if I could get addicted to milky coffee? (hahaha…)

        3. Gallivanta Post author

          Usually we drink basic instant coffee. But, once in awhile, we will make Ethiopian coffee (espresso or plunger) or a blend put together by a NZ company called Hummingbird. Have you noticed that when companies want to stress quality, they advertise their coffee beans (or whatever) as hand-picked ? This makes the process seem so luxurious and elegant, when, in actual fact, it is probably hard, sweaty labour done by work-worn hands, in less than pristine condition. Advertising!

        4. Cynthia Reyes

          I picked coffee one summer for pocket money when I was a small child. The bigger kids got to climb the tree, but I got to pick up the ripe berries that had fallen onto the ground. It was like searching for treasure. That was definitely ‘handpicked”. I wouldn’t want to do it for a living, though.

        5. Gallivanta Post author

          Your little fingers would have done a great job, but I bet you wanted to be up in that tree with the big kids. I tried, for one day, to earn a living as a raspberry picker. I was terrible at it. I managed to pick half a bucket, in the time it took other pickers to pick 10 buckets. 😦 That was the end of my berry-picking career.

    1. Gallivanta Post author

      Yes, in our western societies we tend to be overly concerned with other body parts which can be more easily modified and monetized. For my money, a person’s truth is in their hands; which any good fortune teller will confirm. 😉

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        1. Gallivanta Post author

          I did go to a healer/ village wise-woman once in my younger days. I think she looked at my hands but what I remember clearly is that she used an ordinary pack of cards to tell me about my future. In a way, I wish I hadn’t gone to see her because the things she said lodged rather too permanently in my head. The future is probably best left to itself.

        2. Cynthia Reyes

          I hear you. I am still waiting for that opportunity to visit Australia, told to me years and years ago. But many things Miss Claire told me have come to pass, without my realizing it at the time.

        3. Gallivanta Post author

          No particular country names were told to me. 😦 Voyages were forseen, however, most of which I think I have had already. 😉 What Miss Claire really meant, I am sure of it, was Australasia, which means a future visit to Australia and New Zealand. 🙂 Would you ever consider a cruise trip? They are reasonably priced I believe, and are well-suited to all ages and stages of health. Perhaps you could persuade them to take you on as a guest speaker/writer? Okay, I know…… but no harm in dreaming good dreams. 🙂

        4. Cynthia Reyes

          Absolutely. Australasia.
          If you could foretell that I will take that trip, it may have a felicitous effect. How good is your fortune-telling? Tee hee….

  30. womanseyeview

    Hands in the literal sense of hands or the broader sense of healing and helping hands? In the anti poverty movement here we have a saying – rather a hand up than a hand-out…

    Reply ↓
    1. Gallivanta Post author

      All senses really. I love the structure and shape of hands as much as the good they can do. From my limited knowledge of Paul Engle’s life, it would seem he was very much a hand-up, not a hand-out sort of person. I much prefer a hand-up approach, too.

      Reply ↓

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