The significance of the order: ‘All hands on deck!’

A friend of mine recently sustained terrible injuries to his hand when his shotgun blew up. Such accidents fill me with horror, not least because they remind me how important our hands are to us, and how easily — in scores of different ways — they can be damaged. Hands are miraculous things, and one of the delights of observing children is to see how quickly they make use of them — pointing, turning knobs, pressing buttons, above all using a pencil. I have just received a delightful photo of my transatlantic granddaughter drawing. It is a Vermeer-like study in intense concentration. Though she is only 20 months old, she holds the pencil firmly and correctly. This is very important. However young a child is, it is essential, if the slightest sign of artistic talent emerges, to see that the hand grips the instrument (even chalk) in the most efficient manner, and there is only one: its base between thumb and forefingers, its tip guided jointly by forefinger and middle finger.