Spring break

Today I will prepare stock for my class in making a Viking chest. The wood is white oak, and the hardware will be hand forged under the guidance of master blacksmith Bob Patrick. The class will begin Monday and we are taking extra precautions concerning cleanliness of tools and shop due to the threat from Covid 19.

After today students at the Clear Spring School will go on an extended spring break while we prepare for the Corona virus's eventual effects on our own community. These are scary times. And the reasons for fear are quite real, though as a friend Kari in Norway reminds us, "we are not afraid."

With the Federal government having failed in its response, it appears that people in small communities all across the US will step up and care for each other.

I was surprised last night to see the supermarket shelves completely emptied of toilet paper.
Paul Marsden, a consumer psychologist at the University of the Arts London, explains the psychology of panic buying of such things as toilet paper as “retail therapy” — where we buy in an attempt to manage our emotional state. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/11/heres-why-people-are-panic-buying-and-stockpiling-toilet-paper.html

“It’s about ‘taking back control’ in a world where you feel out of control,” he said.

There are other ways to feel in control during troubling times. Crafting objects of useful beauty provides what psychological researcher Kelly Lambert describes as  providing"effort driven rewards." Some experts have suggested we find ways to "hunker down" for three months. There may be ways we can rise up instead.

The photo shows my prototype Viking Chest with hardware hand forged by Bob Patrick.

Make, fix, create and assist others in learning lifewise.