Living In The Avon Hills Conference

This weekend we went to the Living In The Avon Hills conference at Saint John's University again.  I don't live in the Avon Hills but when traveling west on Highway 94, that area is my favorite part of the road.  We listened to Stan Tiekkela speak about feathers.  I have heard this naturalist and author speak before and I like his self-deprecating  and interactive style.  After that we went back to the old chapel for a little break and they were serving free samples of beer?  Who drinks beer in a church at 10:15 a.m.?  I do, that's who.  After that we had our choice of classes.  I took one on a tour of the workshop.  Turns out Saint John's does sustainable forestry.  Their wood is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.  They harvest their wood which is mostly red oak but also white oak, birch, ash and pine.  They send the wood to Browerville to be milled by the Amish.  The wood is brought back and dried on the property of Saint John's.  One year is required to dry boards that are one inch thick. Two years of drying for the two inch thick boards.  We got to go inside the wood drying kiln to finish drying the wood.  This kiln was big enough for 30 people to go inside and it was warm like a sauna in there.  And it smelled good too.  I love looking through these old buildings and looking at the wood working equipment, the saws, the clamps, the lathes and the piles and piles of boards.  In the wood working department they make furniture for the University, the prep school, and items for sale such as coffins.  Two kinds are coffins are made. One is mummy style and made of pine with a single door.  The monks get those coffins but the public is free to buy one as well.  The other style is rectangular and has a traditional two section lid.  They also make huge book stands for museums and churches.  These book stands are made to hold a book a wide yard when opened up and they were quite impressive.  After the wood working tour I took a class on designing recreational trails, on bears of the world, and on LBJ's. LBJ's are a birder's term for little brown jobbies - sparrows and finches that are hard to tell apart.  This speaker made it seem a little easier by listing the sparrows in order of most common to least common.  I had to laugh as his instructions on where to see a certain rare sparrow because part of the instructions were to "Park illegally."  The lunch was great with Saint John's bread and Saint John's cookies.  I try not to eat much bread or any cookies but when it comes to Saint John's bakery, the carbs are worth it.  I had a great day learning new things and meeting new people.  The great bells on the chapel rang when I walked from my car to the hall and again when I walked from the hall back to my car.  Was it because it was 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.?  Or were the bells ringing just for me?