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I am waning (waxing?) poetically here. So, if you aren't interested there are some really great threads over in General Carving that you will really enjoy reading ....
I think everyone has a few little life moments when you know that you have or haven't made the grade ... I have.
Those moments seldom involve the 'BIG' accomplishments like getting married, giving birth, opening your own store, getting that promotion. I'm talking about those very little interactions between people that barely take 30 seconds to occur yet change your perceptive about yourself and your place in life.
One of my first 'little moments' came when I was in my teens and my uncle who owned a machine shop offered to take my brothers on as summer apprentices to learn welding. Neither of them were interested but I sure was. As a burgeoning artist learning to weld could have ended me up as a sculpturer instead of a pattern artist. But when I asked if I could apprentice that answer was a quick "NO" from my uncle and my Dad. That's when I realized that there are different rules for girls and boys ... and the girl rules often started with "NO".
Another "little moment" came when after showing my Dad my first carving, which was a feather done in scrap 2"x4" with a kitchen paring knife ... AHH!, my Dad actually purchased a carving tool set and basswood for me as a Christmas present. That may seem small to you but in a world where MEN do woodworking and women do the dishes it was huge!
The day Dad died my Mom placed his carving tools in front of me and said that Dad wanted ME to have them. They were the only possessions that he specifically taged for any of us kids. I still cry when I think about it because to me it meant the Dad felt I was worthy of following in his footsteps in carving.
Well ... why, Susan, are you boring us all with this prattle??? Well, I say, because I had one of those "little moments" last night. My beloved Michael collects designer knives. He loves plotting, planning, considering and down right stalking his next purchase. And he loves pulling out the rest of his collection to compare new ones to old ones, deciding where the new ones will fit into cases.
Yesterday a package arrived with four new knives, two about 10" to 12" long blades and two pocket knife styles.
So he's looking at them closely ... fingering the loot as we would say ... when he notices that one of the large ones still had a tin edge burr. AHHH!
AND THEN!!!
He hands the knife to me and asks ... "Can you give it a few licks on your strop?"
Michael knows how to sharpen. He's a cabinet woodworker! He's done woodworking for eons! He actually doesn't flinch when he turns on the table saw, router or band saw!!!!
But he handed his new prize, barely out of the box, to me to sharpen.
THAT is a little life moment!!!
Susan
I think everyone has a few little life moments when you know that you have or haven't made the grade ... I have.
Those moments seldom involve the 'BIG' accomplishments like getting married, giving birth, opening your own store, getting that promotion. I'm talking about those very little interactions between people that barely take 30 seconds to occur yet change your perceptive about yourself and your place in life.
One of my first 'little moments' came when I was in my teens and my uncle who owned a machine shop offered to take my brothers on as summer apprentices to learn welding. Neither of them were interested but I sure was. As a burgeoning artist learning to weld could have ended me up as a sculpturer instead of a pattern artist. But when I asked if I could apprentice that answer was a quick "NO" from my uncle and my Dad. That's when I realized that there are different rules for girls and boys ... and the girl rules often started with "NO".
Another "little moment" came when after showing my Dad my first carving, which was a feather done in scrap 2"x4" with a kitchen paring knife ... AHH!, my Dad actually purchased a carving tool set and basswood for me as a Christmas present. That may seem small to you but in a world where MEN do woodworking and women do the dishes it was huge!
The day Dad died my Mom placed his carving tools in front of me and said that Dad wanted ME to have them. They were the only possessions that he specifically taged for any of us kids. I still cry when I think about it because to me it meant the Dad felt I was worthy of following in his footsteps in carving.
Well ... why, Susan, are you boring us all with this prattle??? Well, I say, because I had one of those "little moments" last night. My beloved Michael collects designer knives. He loves plotting, planning, considering and down right stalking his next purchase. And he loves pulling out the rest of his collection to compare new ones to old ones, deciding where the new ones will fit into cases.
Yesterday a package arrived with four new knives, two about 10" to 12" long blades and two pocket knife styles.
So he's looking at them closely ... fingering the loot as we would say ... when he notices that one of the large ones still had a tin edge burr. AHHH!
AND THEN!!!
He hands the knife to me and asks ... "Can you give it a few licks on your strop?"
Michael knows how to sharpen. He's a cabinet woodworker! He's done woodworking for eons! He actually doesn't flinch when he turns on the table saw, router or band saw!!!!
But he handed his new prize, barely out of the box, to me to sharpen.
THAT is a little life moment!!!
Susan
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