Today’s prompt was to make something inspired by a hand. Jim took a photo of my hands; then I played with words and photo effects to create this image:

While I tinkered, I thought of my mom. A child of the Great Depression and a farmer’s wife, she was a marvel at whipping up a meal from what we had “on hand.” Even in the leanest of times, she could satisfy our hunger and our tastebuds. While I might peer into the fridge and proclaim we had nothing to eat, she would collect a few strategic ingredients from the pantry, mix them with a hefty portion of her own creativity, and serve up a delicious meal that left us wanting nothing.

Now that I’m the mom, I’m fortunate that my household has enough resources to keep a well-stocked kitchen. We are seldom at a loss for something to eat.

Instead, we seem to come up short on time.

But this memory of my mother made me wonder: Are we really without this resource? Or are we just lacking the perspective and creativity to find and use the time we have on hand?

I’ll be thinking more about this. How about you? How much time do you have, really? If you looked harder, and exercised more ingenuity, could you find yourself with a bit more time on your hands?

Incidentally, working with this photograph made me realize how much my hands resemble my mom’s. From now on, when I need a little jolt of resourceful creativity, I’ll know that a great example is as close as the palm of my hand.