The Workshop Tools

 

Every artisan uses tools.

And they are invaluable to them, because without tools their work becomes difficult, and sometimes even impossible.

My father was a carpenter, among the many jobs he did. I remember that he had some tools that were very old: a favorite saw, some worn but very sharp chisels, his square that no longer had numbers painted on its surface, but still knew what a right angle was. With these and other tools, my father made wonders: cabinets, furniture, entire houses. And I suppose some of that way of treating tools was inherited by his son, me.

As you know, I am a writer, and since I have to be one in the 21st century, I use digital devices for it. Of course, when I started writing, I did it by hand, 19th-century style, since I couldn't even afford a typewriter. But even then, I had a favorite type of paper, a pen that I used down to the last drop of ink, and it had to be a certain brand and nib size. It was part of who I was as a writer.

But over time, I modernized, as my money allowed. My first "computer" was a small laptop, a Hewlett-Packard notebook, which I bought online for about $100 USD. It wasn't a new model; in fact, it was about four or five years old. But it worked well enough for what I needed it for. And there, on that little machine, I wrote many things until I finally wrote and submitted "The Southmoor Nomad," my first published short story.

That machine eventually lost the ability to display information on its small eleven-inch screen. Did I get rid of it? Not at all. I didn't have the money for a new one. So I went to a secondhand store, bought a really old monitor (I think it was from the 90s), and plugged it into my system, which was no longer mobile, and kept writing. That little computer served me for about seven years. Then I bought a bigger, more modern laptop, but not the latest model either.

This one only lasted a year. The poor thing was a victim of Hurricane Maria, and it was destroyed in the flooding that resulted from that tragic weather event. So it had to be replaced, in 2018, with another one just like it. And I'm writing this to you from that one today.

Yes. My main writing tool is now eight years old and is a model that came out ten years ago. The poor thing, it's a laptop, and its screen is permanently held open with duct tape, since its hinges broke a long time ago. But everything else works fine. So I keep writing on it.

I also have a desktop computer in my office, but it's already part of my process to write in the living room while listening to music in the background. The laptop allows me to do this, and it feels like I'm having a conversation with my readers, not dictating material to them from my desk. It's more intimate that way.

There's something wonderfully literary about the beautiful thoughts, the spiritual reflection, the literary insight that emerges from a half-resurrected machine, held together with tape.

That's my style, really.

And perhaps it's fitting. My philosophy of life seems to increasingly indicate that usefulness, sincerity, and purpose matter more than appearances. Even my laptop now shares this worldview.

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Until then, have a wonderful, beautiful, and blessed day, no matter what happens today.

— Z.D. Caballero

Orocovis, Puerto Rico