HotHands Are the Handout We Need Right Now
Hand warmers are items of care, meant to be shared among friends and lovers
The sun, which is perhaps best known for either devouring the wax wings of poor Icarus or being soaked up by Sheryl Crow, is a dazzling force unparalleled. Resplendent and glorious, the sun, which is simply responsible for all life on Earth, burns at 15 million degrees Kelvin, a measurement I can’t even begin to comprehend. But I do know that nothing feels quite like when the sun, as described in Homeric hymns, “shines upon men and deathless gods” alike. Nothing, that is, except for one thing: HotHands.
HotHands, for those of you who don’t know, are hand warmers. Shaped like small garbage bags, they are designed to be slipped into gloves, socks, and pockets. Removed from their packaging and given a little shake, these objects transform from limp and lifeless burlap sacks into portable balls of lava. Hours later, when they have finally done their duty and lost their heat, they harden into cold, disposable rocks, just like tiny spent stars. The Greek poets were born too early to write odes to them, but if HotHands had existed then, I’m certain they would have.
I was reintroduced to HotHands in December, when my friend Hazel told me she had purchased them in bulk in preparation for a pandemic winter…
