The man with the sacred hands

There is one shop that differs from all the other fashionable shops encroaching on it and what sets it apart is that it oozes old world charm.

Even from the street view you notice that things happen at a different pace.   It is apparent that what matters here are personal relationships.

I’ve been wanting to visit this quaint shop and finally, I had the perfect excuse with a pair of leather shoes that needed to be re-soled. I couldn’t help but strike up a conversation with Carl Heinz.

As we talk I realise that Carl Heinz has the singular ability to bend time and slow down until one is transported  back to an era where you are not billed per hour, but rather by the quality of the work done.

Carl Heinz initially wanted to apprentice as a baker, but as there weren’t any positions available at that time, he apprenticed as a cobbler and he has been practising his craft, mending shoes ever since - for the last 64 years - if you want to be precise.

As we talk I’m mesmerised by his hands and his gnarled fingers. His lifetime of work and service to his fellow man is etched upon his hands. In the furrows running along his chipped and bruised fingers, and below his hardened finger nails. Its as if the memory of every boot mended and every heel fixed is etched like time upon his hands.

I thought that these are the most beautiful pair of hands I’ve ever seen.

He gets up at 03h30 every morning to feed his horses on his small farm and then drive the 70kms into town. He’s says he’s grateful the city lets him enter each morning as its not for granted. He does after all, drive a diesel vehicle and these days that is frowned upon, especially in the modern cities. Although his car does have 700 000 km on the clock so far…

Cora his faithful companion accompanies him to work everyday and is slightly more vocal than the gentle soul and seems to do most of the talking to the customers while Carl Heinz carries on in his quiet gentle manner, getting on with the task at hand and getting things done, without complaint and taking pride in what he does.