Update and treating you to a treatise on thumbs

Okay, back home at Cottage of Blog 2. I've been busy getting my www.myspace.com/paguthrie up and running.It's been a grind. I lost my layout
and it took me forever to figure out how to get it back. Well, I have it back. Now I realize why I wanted to change it. But I just haven't figured out what I want yet. So, the green on green will stay.

One thing I'd decided to do on this blog is promote other author's short works, whether it's an excerpt from a book, a short (short) story or poem, or an article about something that might interst a diverse group of people. (you're a diverse group of people, no?) So here is one I thought would be of particular interest.

It's by Michael Cortson. Michael treats us to a treatise on thumbs.

The Thumb

By Michael Cortson

Have you ever taken a good look at your thumb? The first thing you’ll notice is there’s one on each hand. They kind of resemble the great toe. Why that toe is considered “great” is beyond me and really not the topic so I’ll put my shoes and socks back on and get focused….there. A hand with only fingers would seem all alone without a thumb. Not that four fingers together wouldn’t make a group and negate them being alone but they just wouldn’t seem the same without that thumb over there. The thumb seems to be the short fat kid in this happy hand family. And the other fingers seem to have elaborate nicknames like “pinky”, “ring”, “pointer”, “index” and that tall guy in the middle, well he has a meaning all of his own given the right circumstances. But the thumb is just the thumb. No sexy nickname for the thumb. It is a cruel name for a body part. You can’t even be cutesy with it like “thumby”. There’s just nothing special about the short fat thumb. He is a utilitarian fellow though. He can “thumb a ride” and you can “thumb your nose” at someone. You can give someone the old “thumbs up!” and of course the good old “thumbs down”. And there are lots of people who think many have their thumb up their….oh well you know what I mean. The thumb does have the distinction of being a “first”, though. He is the first one to get hurt when hanging a picture. But he’s not well thought of at all. If you start dropping things you’re “all thumbs”. We seem to dislike our thumbs until we try to pick up a glass of water or fine wine. If it’s a particularly good wine we give our host the old “thumbs up”. But if we have a tad too much of the old grape and it ends up on the carpet we’re right back to being “all thumbs”. The thumb is a necessary evil. We love them, we hate them, we tolerate them, we smash them, but all in all we just wouldn’t be us without our thumbs. Thumbs up for thumbs!



So now you all know about thumbs. Have a good day.

Cheers
Pat
Proud author of In the Arms of the Enemy and Water Lilies Over My Grave