UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

NEW SPECIMENS OLD SPECIMENS THE SCIENTIST MY LOG CONTACT ME
2003-04-13 - 9:41 p.m.

A MAN WITH GOOD TOOLS

I like a man with good tools, especially when the dreaded science fair competitions roll around. Forget the power tools. Science fair is not about power. By the time your child must do that display on the big board, it�s barely about science. By that time, the science is over. When the competition fair rolls around, it is about layout and design. And the physical tools for that are rotary trimmers, drafter�s T-squares, and carpenter�s squares.

Who would have such physical tools? A guy who lives for stamp show exhibiting, of course. A guy who has involved his children in stamp exhibiting not only has the tools, he knows how to use them. More important, having dragged his children into stamp exhibiting, he has taught his children how to use them too. He�s also taught them the uses of matting and how to step back and check that what seems logical close up catches the eye at a distance. He�s taught them how color can emphasize and distract.

But all that knowledge is useless without the other tools needed to create the all-important display. All that knowledge is useless without the eye for detail and need for precision that he has handed down to Day-Hay. All of it would be useless without his appreciation of measuring, measuring again, and the very light, very erasable pencil mark. All of it would be for naught without his patience to place, look, reflect, measure, place, reflect again, analyze, calculate, measure again, and finally affix. All of it would be of no avail without a love for considering and discussing with youth the relative merits of glue sticks, tape, and staples as fixatives.

As the science fair project advisor, I questioned, supervised, suggested, prodded, and helped analyze the science. I helped Day-Hay decide what needed to go on her board and what else could go on her board. I provided a sounding board as she thought about fonts and font size and I contributed my steady hand with a scissors.

But now my part is done and I can relax. I married a man with good tools and I�m reaping the benefits.

LAST YEAR: Why Vegas Would Hate Us

Mom as an Immaturity Factor
Maintaining Success
Questions, Questions
Still Waiting
The Clutter That Ate the House

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