Math facts and friendship boxes...

Richard Bazeley sent photos of his student's math facts and friendship boxes made in Australia, and it is very nice to see the wisdom of hands being a shared experience on the nearly opposite sides of the globe. As at Clear Spring School, the math facts boxes were planned for use in collaboration with the core classroom teachers. The friendship boxes were made in several grade levels with the upper grades making them of hardwood.

I am recovering well from my table saw injury. This was my first time to go to the ER in over 36 years of woodworking. Here is my report. My thumb was the most badly injured with a gouge taken from the nail and tip, but leaving the nail base undisturbed. It will heal in time to normal appearance and use. The pointer finger was shredded on the tip and flaps of skin are now secured with steri-strips and are well on the mend. Same with middle finger and the next. My little finger was uninjured. You can see that I was very lucky, and that I will make a complete recovery. The students at school have made get-well cards for me, and it is nice to know that I am cared about and that I have been missed.

One of the things that I find surprising but that I perhaps should not is the very strong connection between my emotions and the injury of my hand. Frank Wilson had written about this connection in his book, The Hand. He had described working with musicians who could no longer play their instruments. He notes "when personal desire prompts anyone to learn to do something well with the hands, an extremely complicated process is initiated that endows the work with a powerful emotional charge." So my injury is an emotional as well as physical set-back, affecting me in ways that take some time to process, and may lead in time to a better understanding of myself.

Make, fix and create...