Arizona

I met 4 old friends of Gary’s last evening, two of them former students of his, all of them teachers: one, preschool thru 4th grade; one, community college biology; one, first grade; one, high school chemistry. I liked them all, transplants from other states, countries.

I’m going to post some photos of our recent camping trips. It was a relatively rainy winter here, and the desert is green and colorful. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is magnificent.

Marking Time in the Southwest

I’ve been in Arizona for a few days. Gary, my guide and companion, took me to the last day of the giant gem and mineral show in Tucson. We saw wonderful displays of American minerals, each display case devoted to a famous mineral occurrence, and containing the best available examples from collectors everywhere. It’s easy to understand why people collect these crystals. There was one display from Texas, though, that contained only red, white, and blue specimens.

Familiar-looking chairs

Well, I have two chairs more or less done. They have one coat of oil. Doesn’t this one look familiar? We’ve all seen dozens of captains chairs, in different versions. A friend commented that she was surprised I was willing to make chairs of this conventional design (as we sat in the kitchen on chairs, and at the table, of my own design). So why? One: It’s hard for me to say no. Two: I liked the man who wanted the chairs and didn’t want to disappoint him (related to One). Three: (We’re getting more positive now.) I anticipated a challenge, and therefore an occasion to learn. (This played out in a major way.) How about the pay? It hasn’t worked out all that well, but I didn’t expect it to. From his point of view, he could probably have bought at least five chairs made in Asia for what I charged him for one. But he wanted me to make them because he wanted them to be made with wood from his island. (The seats and arm bows are made of Sitka spruce.) And he wanted them to match the marble-topped table (marble from his island) whose trestle base I have yet to make, also of Sitka spruce. Below: detail of wedged tenon that holds arm in place.

Continuing the chair project

There’s a little more progress to report on the chairs. I glued the back crests to the arm bows, tapered them on the bandsaw, and scooped out a couple of the seats with the angle grinder. So many parts–and all must be glued together, sanded and finished. This project has been a succession of bafflement and confusion interspersed with episodes of progress. I read recently that the purpose of sleep may be to organize memory. That when we “sleep on” a problem it really does help us achieve a solution. Something happens in the subconscious to order the chaos of the day before. It works for me. If I’m stumped, I change what my brain is doing. Going for a walk helps. Sleep helps. Anyway, some photos below of today’s efforts.

Marking Time

Most of my life I’ve valued each day by what I accomplished–usually something built or created. Here’s where I am now: I was asked by a nice man–at 73 still in his vigorous years–to build six captains chairs, modeled after one very comfortable chair he already has. Perhaps foolishly, I agreed. I did tell him, though, that I wouldn’t do all the intricate turnings that are traditional with this type of chair. Not having a lathe, I am carving all those legs and spindles with hand tools–a small plane and a spokeshave. To my surprise, I love this work. The swishing sound of the sharp blade shaping the wood, the mounds of shavings piling up around me. The third picture shows the scraps from sawing out the arm bows. Too interesting to burn.

                              

At home in the Pacific Northwest

This is my landscape: stretching from the island-studded sound to the snow-capped mountains, bountiful farmland between; forests populated by sinuous maples and tall, silent firs; the charming small city on the bay; the many little homesteads in the foothills with plenty of roofs to shelter from the frequent rains that nourish luxuriant gardens and orchards…