last night...

My wife and daughter and I arrived in Portland last night to attend the wedding of a niece. It was late and we hoped to catch the last train to our hotel. Unfortunately, the train was delayed. There had been an anti-muslim incident in which two men were killed. Three men had intervened when an angry man was harassing two muslim women on the train. The angry man attacked, leaving two dead.

One must wonder what kind of world we have on our hands. There is a relationship between hateful speech and hateful acts. And we have choices to make. Do we train the hands in service of humanity or do we clench them as fists and bludgeon each other? Those who are engaged in the making of useful beauty are too busy for anger. The party in power seems to not care one way or the other.

So what's so special about wood?  It’s lovely. You can craft beautiful and useful objects directly from the most basic of raw materials. It unites us with the natural world, and invites us into a profound relationship with nature. Objects whittled or sawn or shaped from it, if cared for, can last a thousand years or more. There is absolutely no limit to what you can learn from it, things even about yourself. And yes, it does grow on trees.

Make, fix, and create...