Idle Hands are the Devil's Workshop

Idle Hands are the Devil’s Workshop

Have you ever heard this saying?  I have heard it most of my life and have pretty much bought into it.   As a child, I had to help out a lot at home since both of my parents worked.  Each day and especially on the weekend there were so many chores that needed to get done.  I am really going to date myself when I tell you I know how to operate a wringer washer without getting my hands or fingers caught in it.  I have wiped off the outside clothesline before hanging anything on it.  I learned the hard way what happened if you didn’t.  I was ironing clothes at a very young age and still take pride in how well I can do this task today.  There is not a wrinkle that can stand up to my skillful hands when it comes to ironing.  The house I grew up in did not have carpet.  Each floor was covered in shiny linoleum and it had to be mopped and waxed every week.  To this day I hate mopping.  I will take laundry over mopping any day of the week. 

            I think the phrase idle hands are the devil’s workshop was meant to scare me into never sitting and doing nothing when there was work to be done while I lived at home.   As a child I did not stop to think what this meant exactly, but I knew I wanted nothing to do with the devil so I just kept on dusting, washing and ironing those clothes, and mopping and waxing the linoleum.  Out of necessity, I also learned how to cook at the early age of seven or eight.  I could fry potatoes, make cornbread, and cook beans.  Those were my specialties.  Any southern girl should be able to make those favorites any day of the week.  To this day potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables, right next to fried green tomatoes, which are number one. 

            Last night I had the privilege of spending several hours at a Halloween party at the happiest place on earth.  It was one of those rare times when all of us could be together as a family.  When we have to juggle four schedules, it is not often we can all be at the same place at the same time.  Even though it was amazing, my little short legs were so tired after walking around for five hours straight. 

When I got up this morning, my first thought was, “Today I am not going to do anything.”  My second thought was, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”  Then my third thought was, “ I am not buying into this any more.  I am retired and I have put in enough years not being idle.”  It feels like I am throwing a temper tantrum today but frankly I don’t care.  I went to the garden to water the vegetables and I was delighted to see that there are two green tomatoes growing.  They are about the size of a large marble, but it is a start.   The plot next to me has two huge tomato plants growing and as I looked more closely I saw that there were several green tomatoes about the size of softballs.  Oh I was briefly tempted to take one, since there were so many. But then I remembered that idle hands were the devil’s workshop.  So I quickly exited the garden and drove home.  I think I will get busy and bake some cookies.  My hands won’t be idle and cooking is one of the things I love to do.  I can still have my day where I am not going to do one thing I don’t want to.