Tiffany's Tale
Ting, Ting, Ting, Stop.
Ting, Ting, Ting, Stop.
Ting, Ting Ting OUCH!!!
Metal working in the town is something else! At first, I had trouble holding the tools. Every five seconds, the tip kept skidding across my piece or making little zig- zag dance marks on blank areas. Just think, that was my attempt to make a straight line! Because I kept hitting myself with the hammer, Galen offered me a band-aid to wrap around my finger.....After three days, the skin underneath became pale and slimy. It was begging for air. Somehow, I believe that was my lucky band-aid. True, it became just as gritty and dirty as my hands after several hours, but maybe it helped me to adjust to learning a new skill. My lines didn't seem to dance as much, and I even mastered etching a circle into copper. The second day, my metal instructor asked me if I'd done "this work" before. I laughed and said "no". I was beaming for the rest of the day.
By day three, a form started to arise. In the back of my mind I started to wonder "Did I do that?". I had officially earned my stripes. My fingernails are black-a trait I was appalled by at first, but now have come to embrace it. I have true "workman's" hands. Right now, I think the lucky band-aid is in some mixed stack of garbage and hay....no matter. It served its purpose. I no longer hit my self with the hammer anymore...knock on metal, uh, I mean wood.