I used to be handy

Now tool-challenged, I still can open a bottle of wine!

Iam man. Hear me hammer! This is what separates us from the animals after all isn’t it? Using tools. But that’s not actually true. Scientists have learned that many animals use tools. Many of us have seen nature videos of otters using a rock to crack open a clam shell. And crows are said to be the brainiest birds. They use sticks to reach things, stones as weights to raise water levels, and they even use their own feathers as tools, which eliminates the need for a tool belt.

Most primates use tools, including me. But as I’ve gotten older, I seem to have lost that ease that comes with using tools daily.

My dad was a machinist and had a workshop in our garage with all the tools one could imagine. He had the usual hammers, drills and screwdrivers, but also drill presses, routers, planers and various table saws. I could usethem all.

If we needed a bookshelf, table or bed frame, we built it. If the washing machine broke down, we tore it apart and fixed it.

I read that macaques in Thailand steal human hair and use it as dental floss. Imagine, all these years, I’ve boughtdental floss while carrying it around on my own head!

My use of tools extended beyond woodworking as well. I could solder copper pipes, wire a circuit, build a wall and install a floor. I could change spark plugs on my car and fix a flat. Today I call AAA and amuse myself withmy phone while I wait.

Today, most of what we buy can’t be repaired by the average human with tools. I open the hood on my car and I might as well try to understand a NASA rocket. Fixing many other things isn’t worth the effort because it costs so little to replace them. I’m not going to tear apart a microwave or toaster oven, I’m going to get on the computer and order another one. If I order it Friday evening it will be here in time for breakfast Sunday morning.

But while I now fumble with hammers, drills and screwdrivers, I can use a keyboard. That’s a tool! I’m pretty good at it. My two fingers fly over the keys and occasionally I even engage a third finger or a thumb!

If I think about the tools I use every day, maybe my self-esteem can rebound from my self-image as increasingly inept. I can open a bottle of wine! And I’ve mastered parallel parking using my backup camera.

I make reservations on Open Table and eat soup with chopsticks! Not really, but I’m not bad at picking up sushi.

The tool that I’m most familiar with is the snow shovel. This winter I’ve had so much practice that I am in championship form. What a great tool it is. It has no moving parts, except when I move it. It doesn’t break down. There’s nothing inside I have to guess at. I have a snow blower, but it won’t start and sits in the back of the garage.

I’m ready once again to get the shovel out, as needed. In the meantime, I will brush and floss. I know where to find the floss.