Talking Hands

In the office today and slowly, very slowly, I'm getting my head working again. It felt good to experience that moment when you get something to behave the way it should. It didn't matter than it was possibly more the result of trial and error than clever analysis of the problem! I got a solution, and ticked a few boxes off in the process. Result!

It was a bit of a grey, damp day and there weren't too many people about on Market Square. I found Andrew here waiting for his bus under cover of one of the market stalls. We talked for some while as his bus ended up being quite late. He had a very dry sense of humour and was thoroughly entertaining company. He had a life at sea serving in the Merchant Navy, seeing action and getting wounded in the second world war. He knew Denis Healey from his early days in Keighley and lamented the fact that his passing last year at the age of 98 went virtually unrecognised. I'm afraid that one certainly passed me by.

It was a nod to how old Andrew is. I was astonished to find out that he's 94. He had lots of things to say about the current political situation. I've never met anyone near his age so articulate and sprightly. When his bus finally arrived there was still some spring in his step. There was quite some agility in his hands too. It was only really when I looked back at the candid shots I'd taken that I realised how expressive his hands were.

"There's one thing you need to understand," he told me. "Life isn't fair. You need to accept that and make the best of what you get handed." I think that's exactly what he's done.