Junius Stephenson slowly and carefully takes out the drafting instruments from the felt-lined box. He explains how each one was used in his work as an engineer designing solid waste disposal systems. Now, of course, everything is done more quickly on computers, but maybe we miss out on something real and tangible when we don’t have a felt-lined box of useful and well-cared-for tools. Sometimes the tools of one’s livelihood become a conduit for memories to tell the next generations what life used to be like. This awl, that protractor, this thimble. I have my grandmother’s silver crane-shaped sewing scissors. Are there objects from your parents’ or grandparents’ lives that have stories to tell?
