Old Dogs & Old Tricks

 Sometimes I’m amused at myself.  My old hands are having trouble doing the most simple things that I’ve done for a lifetime without even a second thought.  My gramma complained about Ol’Arthur who had taken to living with her.  He’s gotten into my right hand and I’m a ‘rightie’.  A round doorknob is so painful to grasp and turn.  I’m gradually changing all doorknobs to the lever style.  The latch on the bathroom door in my rv requires me to press a button in with my thumb to release the latch.  Just can’t do that anymore.  I’m trying to learn to do things with my left hand instead of my right. 

Therein lies the new problem.  I’ve always bragged that I do many things with my left hand.  I play the guitar a bit – left hand fingers the frets.  I use my left hand on a computer mouse and use the keyboard in the correct method – left hand on a,s,d,f.   I knit, crochet and do hand quilting.  All these things require the left hand to do certain things. 

But, HA!      The simple issue of learning to pin clothes to a clothes line with the left hand seems to be impossible!  How many miles of diapers have I hung in a lifetime?  I know how to hang clothes – just do it with my other hand.  Simple, huh?  But my left hand just seems to be a dummy trying to manipulate the pins, squeeze them over the clothes securely and smooth the item with my right hand.  I fumble the pins, drop wet clothes on the ground, pinch my fingers, if I squeeze the pin a bit off center it goes sailing across the ground to be pounced on by my little dog.  It’s funny and frustrating at the same time. 

Probably, the issue is my re-learning curve is pretty steep.  No problem if the left hand was taught it’s duty from the beginning.  But trying to switch?  Pretty tough.  This old dog is struggling to re-learn an old trick.   ~pam