The sound of hammers in the morning

Mr. Boy and I got up early and headed to the local Lowe’s for a Cub Scout session billed only as a wood project of some kind. We joined about twenty other boys in the store’s spartan management conference room and received pre-cut wooden castle kits, small hammers and plastic safety goggles for each boy. It was Mr. B.’s first time with a real hammer and he made the most of it, pounding away at the small nails that held the castle’s wooden walls and turrets together. I had to start the nails with my thumb through pre-drilled holes, then hold the pieces while he hammered. I kept worrying that he would hit my fingers but he never did. Walking out with our completed eight- inch X eight-inch castle, he thanked me for helping him. Politeness is not a given with a six-year-old so it was a pleasant moment. Really nice of Lowe’s to do it, since there was no charge, and some manager had left some figures on the conference room’s chalk board showing the store had recently lost almost $300,000. A notation said most of the loss was in the tools department. I am resolved to go back this weekend and buy a tool of some kind or other.