Wooden Pieces
When I was about 6 years old, I
used to cut branches off trees and make parts for building boxes or other
items. In the process, I was using all the tools that were available in our kitchen
and even sometimes would buy small tools to help me with that. I remember at
one point, I was able to make a wooden truck able to carry small loads of toys and
even the wheels were made of wood cut perpendicular to the base of a branch!
The ability to manipulate objects
and to make something meaningful was extremely gratifying and later on at about
10 years of age, I started to tear apart my favorite bicycle and put it all
back together again. I guess it was all about curiosity and even sometimes
creativity. How can I make something new out of what I have? What is really
going on in the structure of this machine? Why does the toy bunny play a drum the
way it does? How do clocks work? ….The inquiry never stopped.
Later on in my life, during my high
school years, college years and even some working years, all of this fixing,
bending and figuring was put to rest until I got married!
Yes, I admit, I am a
late bloomer and married at around thirty years old. My wife and I purchased
our small starter house. In the process, the house needed a lot of work. How
about plumbing? Sure!, How about the bathroom? Yes! How about a new kitchen? Of
course……. All of a sudden, I found myself with my beloved hammer, saw, sander,
plumbing tools….etc. You say tools? Oh,
you have no idea…One tool leads to another!
Pretty soon, the basement of our small house turned into a
workshop! Woodworking flashbacks from childhood popped out again!
Along the way, I dragged my reluctant wife along. I rented a booth in
a craft shop and started selling wooden-made items competing with other
carpenters in that shop. The beauty of this whole thing was that it allowed me
to be creative again. I started to think about the design, the look, and yes,
the mathematical symmetry and golden ratio of items and what other people might
like to buy. Along the way, my wife helped me with the practicality of the
objects and what might sell. I remember one day before Christmas, my wife and I
visited the rented booth and noticed almost everything we had made was sold! It
was gratifying…Not the money but the fact that people liked what I made!
I ended up becoming a teacher and purchasing another house
and having children. Everything was put on hold. Once again there was no time
for me to do what I really enjoyed doing. On top of that, I seemed to have developed
a sensitivity to dust that requires a well-ventilated workshop. The house that
I live in does not have a workshop and I have been parking my table saw along
with my tools in a small room in the basement and every time I crank up the old
rusty table saw, wood dust moves all over the house creating an allergic
reaction for everyone.
To this day, I have friends and family members who remind me
of the things that I have made for them and how much they enjoy it.
I think I will be returning to wood
working in the next stage of my life…When I retire. I am going to be far more
slow and less agile but I will carry the experience and wisdom of an old man
who still cares about making wooden pieces!
