The role of the hands in learning touches on every aspect of life. As Frank Wilson said to me in an email recently, the hands are a mountain so large, they make their own weather. One can live unconsciously in the shadow of a mountain and never know the full depth and breadth of its effect. I recently met a doctor from Fayetteville who makes model ships, from the carefully shaped wood to the twisted fibers forming the lines and ropes, done in accurate scale. A real ship had thousands of feet of rope to secure and control the sails and rigging, and to make scaled rope for a model ship is not a simple undertaking.

At Clear Spring School we have experimented with making string and rope. Two years ago, we used fibers to make our own strings for yo-yos. This year, one of our traveling classes visited a museum where a rope making device was displayed, so we recreated it for use in the woodshop.

If we take a few moments and look around, we begin to see the loss of skills and understanding that takes place in our communities as new technologies displace old, and as we abandon our historic lives as hand-crafters for the dubious advantages of our lives as modern consumers.

The photo above is of a model of the United States Sloop Vandalia by Gene Andes