Monday, August 01, 2011

teach to value nature...

Pope Benedict has asked parents to take their children into nature to learn the value of the natural world. Pope Tells Parents, and Kids, Get Outside!
“I would like to recommend that during this time of vacation, you revivify your spirits by contemplating the splendors of Creation.”

“Parents,” he said, “teach your children to see nature, respect and protect it as a magnificent gift that presents to us the grandeur of the Creator!”
Pope Benedict also needs to tell parents to teach their children to make things rather than just allow their lives to be filled with things made for them. By becoming makers and creators, children are more clearly aligned with the beneficent powers of the universe that most religions identify as the Creator.

Today, I will attend registration day at the Clear Spring School, apply Danish oil to boxes so they can be shipped, and attempt a furniture repair on a dresser for my daughter's first apartment. Parts are missing that hold the mirror and must be remade.

Follow Benedict's advice on nature, and listen for more. He might be on a roll. If he is truly awakening to the needs of children, he will also tell you to:

Make, fix, and create...

The photos are of CSS 2nd and third grade students last fall on the Golden Trail at the Clear Spring School.

As you can see in the photo at left, I am beginning to make progress on the mirror attachment for the dresser my daughter and I are fixing up for her to take to grad school. The dresser is one that my mother had rescued from roadside disposal.  It's all a bit of play, shaping one side and then shaping the other to be just like it. I started out with a digital drawing to see how it might look, and as you can see, after cutting to shape, fitting to the back and routing edges, I am nearly ready to sand.

Yesterday I used an iron to reattach areas of veneer that were lifting. I will need to attach strips of hardwood to secure other areas where fragile veneers are missing or endangered. With a bit more work, it will be worth keeping.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous5:21 AM

    It's a beautiful old dresser. Well worth saving.

    Mario

    ReplyDelete