The Hands Of Time

They are rough and wrinkled. They have seen years of hard but delicate work. The job they do is not learned overnight. It takes years of apprenticeship followed by a constant journey of learning and improvement, innovation and design. As the job begins the hands examine the subject for every subtle characteristic that will affect the final product. These are the hands of a master boot maker, and the feet of the customer must be closely studied in order for the fit to be just right. Slowly and methodically, measurements are taken. From the diameter of the calf at the height of the tops, to the foot around the instep and heal, all the way down to the ball of the foot, length and width are crucial. The old tape measure he uses could tell tales unnumbered of the years and boots that have passed by in this little musty shop that smells of leather, machine oils, polish, and glue. The tape is stretched firmly but not too tight around the point that each measurement will be taken over and over again to assure no mistakes. After the true measurement of that specific place is taken and the maker is satisfied he moves on to the next one. The measurements are written on a Manila folder opened out where each foot, wearing a sock, has been traced to determine the actual footprint. This is only the beginning of the process but it could possibly be the most important part. From these measurements the maker will fit a last, the wooden form that represents the customer's foot, to build the boot around it as if he were building it right over the customer's foot itself, at least that is the idea.

The leather type and color is carefully chosen by the customer. The building process begins. It takes over forty hours to build a pair of boots but it takes years to really know how to do it. Most bookmakers are backed up as long as two years on orders, so measurements may be taken twice. Once when the order is placed and then checked again just before the boots are made, just to make sure there are no drastic changes. Slight injuries to a foot can make a vast difference in some measurements even though the customer may not realize it themselves. When the boots are being made, the maker is careful to take each step slowly and carefully not leaving anything out that would affect the final outcome. The day has come. They are finally finished and the rough hands that moved slowly and methodically over the customer's foot move slowly and methodically over the smooth surface of his work now to give his final inspection and approval. When the customer places his fingers in the pull straps and his heel "pops" into the boot it is a sign that the fit is right. But when both feet are in the boots and walking around the shop and a smile shows on the face of the happy customer, the maker is pleased. When made correctly, they fit like a glove.

Another pair of hands lifts the heavy leather, thick and freshly tanned in a complete side, onto a large wooden work table. After inspecting the hide, tanned thick for special deep tooling, pasteboard patterns are laid over it and moved around in order to utilize every possible inch of the surface. Special knives, sharpened like a razor, are used to slowly cut around the patterns. Over the next few days or even weeks, the leather will be made into the most important tool of the cowboy trade; the saddle. Before being attached to a wooden "tree" the foundation of the saddle, each piece will be carved and tooled until they are works of art, each one in itself. A swivel knife in the hands of a master craftsman will follow a pattern, sometimes marked on the hide and sometimes just in the mind of the maker, to carve out the outlines of flowers, leaves, and even images of horses and cows, where other special tools will be used to make a beautiful three dimensional image on the thick heavy hide. When the delivery truck arrives and the box comes, the new owner can't get a pocket knife out and opened fast enough to disclose the contents and see what the finished product looks like. The smile on his face and on the face of the maker when the phone call comes with compliments and excitement from the customer, show that the maker is pleased.

A third pair of hands steam and stretch the raw felt over a rounded form or block to begin making the hat a customer will wear with pride. It all began with fur cut from the hide of the water resistant pelt of a beaver. After the matting process is finished a cone shaped piece of felt is ready to be built into the customer's choice for color, size, style, and shape. The maker's hands pull, stretch, sand, tamp, and feel until the rough hair is smooth and supple. The heat of a heavy iron and the steam it creates makes the brim lay flat and stiff. The edges are trimmed evenly to make a neat oval shape around the domed crown. A ribbon that closely matches or contrasts the color of the fur felt according to the customers preference is sewn around the edge of the brim and around the crown with a small bow on the left side to finish it off. Steam is used to soften it up enough to put in place the shape chosen by the customer that matches his personal preference and personality. When he places it on his head and looks in the mirror, customer and maker alike smile and they are pleased.

Hands just like these can take oily substances with pigments of every color and create beautiful pictures of landscape, still life, and portraits. The colors and images jump off the canvas as if they are real. They are the gifted hands of one who can take soft clay and over a period of time can shape and mold it and create the likeness of man and beast in the pursuits of life, from riding a bucking horse to cradling a newborn baby in his mother's loving arms wrapped in a quilt handed down from previous generations. The quilt used as a model for this work of art was made by loving hands of a women cutting and sewing, all the while thinking of the baby or young newlyweds it is made for. The look on the face of each of these artists when someone looks upon their handiwork in awe shows they are pleased.

Yet another pair of hands, hands that have never been nor ever will be seen by man, take absolutely nothing and create everything we know to exist. He took those hands and with a stroke, flung the stars into the skies. With those hands he lit the sun and all the other "suns" of all the other galaxies in the vast heavens that man has only just begun to discover after millennia have passed. He made the land to separate from the waters and made creatures of all kinds, both great and small to fill the oceans and the landscape for man to enjoy. Those hands even created man himself from the dust of the earth molded into clay and then breathed into him the breath of life. Those hands, the hands of God, created mankind...us, in His own image. Because of this great craftsmanship it should be easy to understand how the hands of man can be capable of creating such beauty. Whether it is a saddle, a custom hat, a beautiful pair of custom boots, a painting, sculpture, or even the birth of a beautiful child, the handiwork of God is there. His word says even His invisible qualities are plainly evident in His creation. He either does it or makes it possible for us, His greatest creation to do it. Our wish, our hope, our goal should be that when He looks at us, He is pleased.