As usual, most of my inspiration comes outside of myself, and sometimes from someone I've actually spawned. Luckily, my children continually offer a rich variety of writing material. Last week, I sat beside Nora (my seven year old) and waited poolside for her swim class to begin. As we sat side by side on a bench, I took her hand into my own and admired the slender fingers topped by her long fingernails. As she named her fingers for me, she took me by surprise when she reached the middle one. She actually called it her spare finger. Whoa!!! "The what?", I interrupted. I couldn't imagine where she might have picked up the reference, and I didn't bother to ask. My guess is that someone, somewhere decided that it was just too dangerous to refer to something exactly as it is. By default, the odd-numbered five digit configuration positions that tall boy smack dab in the middle of all the action. But spare? What the hell is spare about a finger. Just try holding a pencil without the rock steady, ever-present middle finger to lean on. And after you try that, see how far you get with Cat's Cradle.
