The Clear Spring School campers are having a wet trip. It has been raining all day and will continue through tomorrow. That will create challenges. We don't really grow from having things presented us on silver platters, and the opportunity to rise above these kinds of difficult circumstances should be built into every school curriculum. I can tell you from past trips what they are going through, but I can also tell you from past trips that they are making the best of things, learning what they went for and much more.

Seeing Mario's students cutting dovetails yesterday gave me an idea. One of the things I've noticed with the elementary school students is that they are lacking an observational awareness of the surface qualities of the wood. So for the 3rd and 4th grade classes, I plan to have a sanding day. The idea is to give each a piece of black walnut and 4 pieces of sand paper in various grits. This should lead them to a willingness for closer observation of all their woodworking efforts. I'll let you know next week how it turns out.