The mortarboard was a flat square board with a handle underneath. The mason held the mortarboard in one hand and the trowel in the other. The mortar sat on the board. The trowel scooped the mortar off the board and spread it on the wall. The mortarboard was the plate. The trowel was the fork. The wall was the mouth. The mason fed the wall one scoop at a time and the wall ate the mortar and the mortar became the joint and the joint held the brick.

The mortarboard was also called a hawk. Nobody knows why. The hawk sat flat in the palm and the mason rotated it to keep the mortar centered. The rotation was unconscious. The mason did not think about rotating the hawk. The hand rotated the hawk the way a waiter rotates a tray. The balance was in the wrist. A new mason dropped mortar off the hawk every third scoop. An experienced mason never dropped mortar because the wrist knew where the center was without looking.

The graduation cap is called a mortarboard. The flat square cap with the tassel. The cap looks like the mason tool. The scholar wears the mason tool on graduation day and does not know it. The connection between the mason and the scholar is the flat surface. The mason holds knowledge on a flat board and transfers it to the wall. The scholar holds knowledge in a flat cap and transfers it to the world. The mortarboard is the platform for knowledge in both trades. The mason works with lime. The scholar works with ideas. Both of them are building something that is supposed to last.

The mortarboard was made of wood or aluminum or magnesium. The magnesium hawk was the lightest. The mason held the hawk for eight hours and the weight mattered. One pound lighter meant one less pound the shoulder carried all day. The shoulder carried the hawk and the hawk carried the mortar and the mortar carried the building. The building started on the mason shoulder. The foundation of the building was the mason body. Damage to the shoulder was damage to the building because the building could not rise faster than the mason could lift.

Nobody hand-feeds mortar anymore on big jobs. The mortar pump pushes mortar through a hose directly to the joint. The pump replaces the hawk and the trowel and the shoulder. The pump does not get tired. The pump does not develop a rotator cuff injury at age fifty-five. The pump is faster. The hawk was slower. The pump delivers mortar. The hawk delivered mortar and skill. The skill was in the rotation. The skill was in the scoop. The skill was in the wrist that knew where the center was. The pump has no wrist. The pump has a nozzle. The nozzle does not know anything. The nozzle delivers volume. The wrist delivered precision.

See also: Tuckpointing, Pointing