School is for....?

The New York Times has been running a series of editorials exploring "what is school for?" And this is a favorite. "School is for connecting with Nature."

What a sad and sorry place we create for future generations if we fail to connect our children with the nature that surrounds us. I am sitting on my front porch as is common for me these days in the early morning. Dog Rosie is at my feet, her eyes, nose and ears attuned to the life that surrounds us. She assists me by calling my attention to things I would have missed. 

In the wood shop I've been inlaying box lids, finishing 33 yesterday, and preparing to assemble boxes.

Yesterday friends and I were discussing our own personal overloads of things we've made. A simple solution is to make things that are useful and that get used up in time, rather than making "art," which by necessity needs to be kept safe and whole and purposely unused. That's why I often write of beautiful, useful things in that the objects we make can be both. 

While art can be hung on walls, the useful things we make that then are used become a celebration of life. 

Make, fix and create...