Windchimes...Not For Me!

   Windchimes are not for me.  I do love the melodic tinkling that fills the air with each breeze coming off the Bay.  I do love the intricate designs of some of the better made chimes.  I do love the ingenuity behind those who can put together a chime that can send a listener into a calmer mood.  I do not love restringing those things once the weather has taken a toll on the piece.  That, my friends, is NOT for me!  I usually do not have a problem with repairing things that become broken.  As a kid, I was always taught to repair or repurpose damaged items but restringing a windchime this morning nearly got the best of me.  The style with metal tubes or bamboo pieces never presented a problem so I decided it was time to repair one that was strung with capiz shells.  That small chime set made me realize just how "fumble fingered" (Mom's phrase) I have become.  I could hardly tie the eight million or so knots that were required to get the goofy thing tinkling again!  

  In all fairness, I do have a good amount of arthritis in my right hand making it difficult to hold small things but I felt somewhat like a spider with fifty or so flipflopping bugs in my tangled web.  The fishing line that needed to be used was of the finest sort and those capiz shells are as light as feather.  (They also have sort of a chalky coating making them hard to grasp!)  Each time, I would poke that line through one hole, it would slip and slide right back out and occasionally poke itself into the wrong place. Tying the knots was another story as they had to be tight enough to not slip but not too tight where the paper thin shell would cut them.  Keep in mind I did all of this at five in the morning so the brain was probably still a bit sleep-skewed.  

  Still, about two hours after starting, I finished the job! It was one of those "can't quit" things because the cat would have surely made things a lot worse had I abandoned the task midways.  Had...to...finish!  Should I have just tossed the chimes and bought a new?  Nope.  My nephew brought the windchimes from the island where he lives.  The locals there make amazing crafts from what they have on hand and he knew I would appreciate the workmanship. I love the windchimes and the music remind me of my incredible nephew.  Besides, I am not one to trash something without attempting to repair it first.  This attempt nearly did me in, however!  Hopefully, I will never get a harebrained idea to use capiz shells for anything...ANYTHING!