Thursday, November 25, 2010

Fountain of Youth

It's been a while since I returned from Atlanta, and I've been hunkering down for winter, stacking firewood, getting logs and basically trying to stay awake past 8pm! Above is a shot from the class at Highland. It was a lot of fun, we had students from the south, midwest and even all the way from Israel.


Here is one of the students kids taking the sample chair for a test spin!

The other day a friend of mine, who also happens to by my physician (his brother is my vet, small town!), came by to make a couple of hickory firewood carriers. He's been suffering carting wood inside in his arms and we've both been trying to clear a day in our schedules to get him properly set.

His work has been stressing him out lately, he's basically handling the work of two doctors everyday and he'll be on call for the next two months without a break. This man needed to beat on a log.


He took to the sledge hammer with such vigor that I just stepped back and decided to let the two of them work it out. During the days discussions, he told me that the worst part of his day is that he has to multitask constantly. When he said this, it dawned on me that when folks come to my shop to make a chair, they get to do just one thing at a time. It's a sad statement that most of us literally have to run away from home and be doled out tasks one at a time to stop this scattered way of being


As the day progressed, I was surprised to look over at him and see that his face, that had been a bit worn looking, seemed fuller and brighter. I swear I could see the teenager inside coming to the surface.
Below is one of the carriers in it's form. It's a way more complex form than is necessary, but it makes a lovely, uniform bend.


I've been noticing a lot of this kind of stress, unnamed and omnipresent in my friends lately, and I've decided that my means of fixing the world is going to start by doing one thing at time, or at least remembering that if I'm stressed, at least I know one of the culprits!

So kick back, focus on eating some turkey and talking to your family (remember, no politics) and pet your goats,


Happy Thanksgiving!