Allow me to tell you a short story. It has to be short because it was inspired by a small set of squiggles on an ancient artifact, and my Holmes-ian attempt to deduce their origin. Here’s the piece.
A man sat outside his hut, fashioning pots out of the riverside clay. He might be using a potter’s wheel, if he’d had some contact with traveling merchants from Sumer.
His 4-year-old daughter was playing nearby and ran over to see what her father was creating. She was fascinated by the magical way the mud was moulded into these beautiful, sinuous shapes, then carved with these lovely designs by her father. She felt so proud of him. And she wanted (so much!) to do what he was doing!
So, she pestered him, begging him to let her make “one design” till with an indulgent laugh, he sat her in his lap, took her small hands in his and shaped a lump of clay into a pot. “Happy?”, he asked her with a laugh. “No” she laughingly replied. She wanted to carve it too. So the man took a stylus, etched a short wavy line, and handed her the stylus. She held it forcefully, and tried to copy her father’s design, her concentration and focus pushing the stylus in deep. Then maybe it was her insistence or a loving father’s desire to make a memory, but that pot was baked, glazed and put to use.
And somehow, over five millennia, that little picture of parental love managed to survive to reach us. See the zig-zag pattern on top and the smaller, rougher copy of it below. Note how deep the pattern was gouged, you can still see the ridges the displaced mud made: does it not look like a child’s attempt to learn how to draw?
Now, is this story true? Honestly, how could anyone say that? Does it fit the facts? I’d say so, but I leave you to draw your own conclusions. Was it a lovely thought? Again, I’d say so, and I hope you do too!
hbhatnagar 
What a sweet interpretation. I’m going to say it’s true!
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Posted by 10000hoursleft | 06/05/2019, 4:52 PMThank you! And welcome back; haven’t seen you in a while. I hope all is well?
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 07/05/2019, 6:01 AMYou’re welcome, and thanks! Nice to be back. I’m well, just needed a break and it turned out to be a long one! Still not sure how to fit reading other blogs into my schedule but I’ll def be reading and supporting my blogger friends as much as I can. How are you?
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Posted by 10000hoursleft | 07/05/2019, 8:51 AMI’ve been very irregular as well, in posting. Work and life seem to keep getting in the way. Still, I try to maintain some link with people I’ve gotten to know here. 🙂
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 13/05/2019, 5:10 AMIt’s so different now to when I was more engaged here, but nice to see familiar faces still blogging 😊
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Posted by 10000hoursleft | 13/05/2019, 5:36 AMOh such a wonderful story .. thanks for sharing this 🙂
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Posted by Julie@frogpondfarm | 03/04/2019, 12:49 AMThank you Julie! I’m glad you liked reading it!
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 03/04/2019, 8:47 PMHappy to read you again, doc 😉
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Posted by HeavyCloud | 28/03/2019, 10:55 PMHappy to see you again! How have you been?
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 31/03/2019, 8:12 AMFine now, been dealing with an undesirable guest (a GIST) but I am pretty good now and enjoying life. And you?
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Posted by HeavyCloud | 31/03/2019, 11:16 AMOh, sorry to hear that. I hope it’s been managed? I’ve been up and down, and then too busy recently.
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 01/04/2019, 5:35 AMBeen through surgery and some heavy medicine, but all seems to go good for now. Cheers my friend.
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Posted by HeavyCloud | 15/04/2019, 2:10 AMI hope it stays good too. Take care.
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 17/04/2019, 5:47 AMA very beautiful story. This story reminds the artwork you and your daughter worked together.
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Posted by Amy | 27/03/2019, 9:23 PMIt’s so nice of you to remember that, Amy! Thank you! 😊
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 27/03/2019, 9:52 PMI’d say the story is true, and it will not be faded. 🙂
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Posted by Amy | 28/03/2019, 12:13 AMGood stories stay with you. 🙂
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Posted by Amy | 28/03/2019, 2:12 AM🙂
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 31/03/2019, 8:12 AMThat certainly might be how it happened!
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Posted by Mick Canning | 27/03/2019, 1:57 PM🙂Would be so beautiful if it had.
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 27/03/2019, 2:42 PMi agree.
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Posted by Mick Canning | 27/03/2019, 3:04 PMTrue or not, the story is beautiful.
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Posted by Indira | 27/03/2019, 9:04 AMThanks Indira! 🙂
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 27/03/2019, 10:37 AM