rrgirl writes about A U-shaped metal piece with holes in each end through which a pin or bolt is run, used as a fastening device.
dictionary.com lists the possible origins of clevis. it predates the time when english got fancy with silent vowels on the ends of printed words. it may predate english as a printed language. the dictionary descriptions suggest something out of the iron age but I drew a clevis detail for a canopy last week. I love how the old words for hand tools and simple devices stay useful and connect us to the past by the work they still do. or as Alan Gussow said “the hand that pushes a button doesn’t know what a hand can do.”
It’s too bad you couldn’t ESP a thought over to Samir during Round 5. Now that he’s aged out of the spelling bee competition I wonder where he will devote his energies. The kid obviously has a great deal of discipline, drive, and smarts.
I love that Gussow quote. A ways back I stumbled upon an exhibit of William Morris art at the Huntington Library. I don’t think this is the same exhibit — pretty sure I was there in the mid- to late-1990s — but it’s amazingly beautiful stuff just the same. Being severely unartistic, I marvel at what others can create with their hands. Not on a computer with Adobe Illustrator or using clip art. Computer graphics and animation are certainly creative endeavors that require a high level of skill. But there is just something about art created the old-fashioned way.
