THE WOODWORKER
The cold rain blew against the windowpanes, icicles hung from the roof. But is warm inside the shop where the man stood. He took a sip of coffee and turned looking at the work on the bench. He sat the cup down breathed in the aromas of the wood; the sour-sweet smell of the oak the tangy smell of the pine, the spicy smell of the cedar and all the others mixed in. He stroked the wood feeling the warmth and the smoothness; he ran his hand over the arches and curves of the scroll. Yes the wood felt alive. He thought about how old the ancient oak was when it was felled Through his hands it came back to life to live for many more years. He felt a responsibility to do the best work he could, to make this a creation that was pleasing to the eye a thing of beauty. Although his hands were old and rough he could feel the slightest difference in smoothness and straightness of the work. “ Just a little more sanding,” he thought “and it will be ready to finished. He had mixed emotions about this. He felt the same about all of his work, it was like a child grown and ready to leave home, he was proud and yet saddened at the same time but it had to leave so he could start another creation to keep another tree alive. He picked a piece of sandpaper and said his daily prayer, “God please guide my hands today” and with each stroke of the paper he put a little of his life into the wood.
This is the way I feel about woodworking
ZABO in Louisiana
Edited 2/13/2004 8:42:00 AM ET by zabo
Replies
Nice, but it would have been better without the sandpaper. Maybe a finely tuned smoother, or well-burnished scraper. Fits the mood better.
Yeah, a little abrasive. <g>
scott
Hey Guys
I didn't write this to start a debate over the qualties of scrapers or sandpaper. I just wanted to write down the way I feel about woodworking. However if sandpaper is ok for someone like Sam Maloof, I think it's good enough for me. I have had very nice replies from other forums so I guess I'll stick to them. I must not measure up to the quality of this forum.
ZABO
Goes to prove, woodworkers can be deep, sensitive and pretty good prose writers. Nicely done. Be ready for more kidding from those of us who are less literate. Alot of us feel the way you do about woodworkin, you just have the cajones to express it the way did. Keep it up! This forum needs ya!! Lib
"strange but harmless"
Edited 2/12/2004 7:26:02 PM ET by lib
Zabo don't go! That was fantastic! I'm sure the scraper comment wasn't meant to offend. The only thing that could possibly have been better about the verse is if had been written by one of my grandchildren and read at my funeral. Do you mind if I print it off just in case.
Thanks for the nice comments. Maybe I jumped the gun a little.
zabo,
Very nicely said . I can relate to the way you speak of being reluctant to turn loose with a certain piece now and then it happens . To have the ability to create is an awesome gift , whether you use sandpaper or not. Maybe I'll try using a scraper on the next kitchen I build . Maybe if it takes longer I could charge more ?
Well said.
I've been fed.
Now to bed.
4DThinker ;-)
zabo
Nice piece of work! Don't panic when you hit a bump in the forum. Most of the road is smooth. Just remember that a percentage here are going through "mid-life crisis". A percentage is on Prozac and rest are just crazy!
A well thought out verse as yours is appreciated, we're just too macho to say so out loud. You just keep posting and we'll keep reading. ha.. ha.. ha..ha..ha..
Regards...
sarge..jt
Proud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Thankyou for posting that.
Ken
Very nicely done. Writing is not easy. We appreciate your efforts.
Harold
I didn't see this as a debate about scrapers ws sandpaper. You titled this "The way I feel about woodworking." Charles did not belittle your writing. He was adding how he feels about woodworking. It's wonderful to clean up at the end of the day and see that there are lots of shavings piled up around the ol' workbench brought about by the use of handtools. That's how I too feel about woodworking.
Scott
By the way.... it is 'icicles' not 'ice cycles' ..... unless you leave your bike in a cold workshop.
Sorry again for jumping the gun a little. and thanks to bosschunk for pointing out the spelling error. Being from South Louisiana I haven't had much experience with either icicles or Ice-Cycles and besides that I aint a very gud spellar.
The Woodworkers Cafe (below) is probably a better place for a thread like this. There you'll find many participants waxing poetic as well as political.
We generally reserve the general discussion area for those wanting to know which tablesaw is better - Jet, Delta, or Grizzly.
Where about's in South Louisiana? My sweet wife is Cajun and I exported her up here to northern Oklahoma. We usually get down there couple times a year and love it.
Very good writing also, and what works for one person don't always work for some one else. We are all out here doing this for our enjoyment, some have shops that look like you could eat off the floor and see some that you can hardly find the machines for all the shavings and dust! That's like writing, I have my wife proof my letters and she always tells me "You cant say that" I tell her I just did.... but she says not correctly..she corrects grammar I re type an it's done!
Thanks for Sharing.......Marsh
Where you be in N. Okieville? I be from Tahlequah.
Grew up in Tulsa then came to Ponca City area 30 years ago.
Dale
I was at the national sky-diving champion-ship in the fair city of Tahlequah in 1967 (if I remember correctly.. ha..). Are you Cherokee by chance?
Regards...
sarge..jtProud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Hi Sarge,
Yup, they still skydive here. I watch them while I was coaching soccer several years ago. I have always belonged to the thinking "why jump out of a perfectly good aircraft, : ' >.
By looking at my G.mother, we as I have some Indian in us, probably Choctaw, my G. mother came form SE Okla. But, there is no Indian record of such, so we are all officially WASP, no college money for my boys by working the Indian Roll thingy.
Dale
"why jump out of a perfectly good aircraft :>)"
As I tell my wife, "the devil made me do it"! I know, I know. She doesn't believe me either. ha.. ha....
Have a great day in O K!
sarge..jt
Proud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Hi Marsh
I live in Lafayette, LA, deep in the heart of cajun country. Where is your wife from? I know what you mean about the different types of shops and the people that work in them. I don't think anyone would want to eat off of the floor in my shop. But I still get the work done. I do have trouble finding tools at times, I know it's beause of the cluttered shop, it can't be age.
ZABO
Edited 2/14/2004 5:06:48 PM ET by zabo
Zabo , The wife is from Cecilia / Breaux Bridge I was down there this past Nov. to a M/C rally at Catfish Haven Park ? I think the name of it was, bout 20 miles S/W of Breaux bridge. I sure do love the eating down there, that's one of the reasons I married my wife for her good cooking! It's funny I can always tell when she is talking to her family on the phone she starts talking funny after a while and the French starts coming out from time to time! Had a good friend of mine move to Mandeville just North of New Orleans over the lake. That's real pretty over there, my wife had never been there till last summer when we went to visit them.
My shop varys also, haven't had time to be out there doing any thing for 3 weeks or better. Got out there and got the wood stove fired up and ended up on the other side of the shop working on our cars today since it got up to about 43!
Marsh
Edited 2/14/2004 7:49:28 PM ET by koikid
Hi Marsh
I know the area, where your wife is from, very well, we have a private campground between Cecilia and Arnaudville. What is your wife's family name, might know them?
zabo
Say hello to all those Univ. of S.W. Louisiana cheer-leaders for me. Well never mind, as all the ones I knew probably all have grand-kids at this point. The price of getting old!
Alert me the next time you have a Cajun or Zydeco Festival in any of the surrounding parishes. I haven't been over that way in about 8 years. Need to change that in the near future. We have a few Cajun resturants in Atlanta, but it isn't the same as "boiled craw-fish" hot out of the pot, Monday's "red beans and rice" (wash-day) or something cooked with a fresh batch of "reaux". Ya'll know how to eat as I see it. ha.. ha....
Regards and "let the good times rolle"...
sarge..jt Proud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Well said, thanks.
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