The Work of my Family's Hands

Lou: Together We Can Help Each Other

Lou took first place and won her first trophy at this year's Reflection Contest for the K-3rd age group. Featured in this drawing are people treating each other with kindness. The sun is smiling and everyone is happy. Lou is thrilled with her trophy and continues to draw daily using a tree or two worth of paper.

Little D: Together We Can Wash The Car

Little D worked hard on this drawing which shows Raycito, himself and Lou washing the family car for me and Dave. Midnight and Kitty are also there. I think I'll let him put his dream of washing the car and creating an Hurtado Utopia to practice this summer. Despite his best efforts, Little D didn't win 1st place. I've mentioned before that he is the kind of kid who really really cares about winning a trophy. So I dug out my 1986-87 Village Vista Art Fair trophy that I won in elementary school and gave it to him. Turns out he really doesn't care if he wins a trophy fair and square because he brags about how much better his trophy is than Lou's.

Here is Little D himself. I am going to frame this amazing piece that he did for art class at school. This deserves a trophy.

Raycito: Together We Can Discover Worlds

Keeping with the theme of Raycito's brain, he created a 3-D model of a world he has yet to discover. Raycito won an Honorable Mention medal which he tossed nonchalantly into the pile with other trophies and ribbons he has won at previous art contests.

David: Restoration of his 1961 Vespa GS

David bought an old 1961 GS years ago. It was in need of a total restoration. He took it apart, had the frame painted, and bought a lot of parts. Then it sat and sat. David lived the equivalent of "the shoemaker's children have no shoes" because although he had restored over 15 vespas for other people in the last 15 years, he had never restored one for himself. The frame of this vespa had become our TV room's decor. It sat on a table covered by blankets for at least a couple of years. This winter I encouraged David to take the frame and all the painted pieces to the shop and put it on a lift. David is usually good about working on things if they are right in his line of sight. As business started to slow, David got busy putting his engine together and then the body, tires, and the wiring and cables. It started falling into place even though he had to cleverly design and make at least a couple of metal pieces. I haven't seen him that excited in a long time. The scooter starts first kick and David fell in love with the tone of the engine's roar. We've figured out that this scooter is the most expensive vehicle we own right now. With something this nice Dave is justifiably a little worried about it ever getting a scratch. Dave VS. entropy.

I want David to know that I am very impressed by the way his hands can make old things beautiful and alive again. I wish we had pictures of what his scooter looked like when he first bought it. Night and Day.

Unfortunately I don't have anything to contribute to "The Work of my Family's Hands", but I was the one to crack the whip on the kids' art projects if that means anything.