The Feeling of Wood

This weekend as I worked on my stairs, I thought about wood and how it weathers. Sometimes the older the wood the more beautiful it becomes. A couple weeks ago I went to a funeral at Sacred Heart Church in Urbank, Minnesota. I sat in the wooden pew. I mourned a woman who was baptized at the very same church 90 years ago in 1908. Ninety years is a long time. The same pews and kneelers were here 90 years ago. On the back of the pews are small book holders to hold the prayer books and the song books. Between the book holders are the small clips to hold hats. The pew in front of me was worn and scuffed. The grain of the wood showed through the dark stain and the many coats of varnish. In some places the wood was worn making the dark line separating the years of growth stand higher than the wood between the lines. Several edges looked like someone had rubbed or picked at the wood wearing off the varnish and stain. Many, many people have sat in these pews before me. I marveled at the multitude of prayers that have been said in this European style church. I am sure mothers prayed for their children who went to war (WWI, WWII, Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan). The wars have changed but the anguish of parents and family is constant. How many broken hearts have knelt in these pews? How many desperate people have asked for divine guidance? How many farmers knelt in thanksgiving for the rain and the sun? I gaze up at the beautiful stained glass windows and wonder how many happy couples sat and looked out the very same windows? I look up at the three white castle like peaks on the altar and wonder how many children have prayed to be granted more independence and self-determination? Are there any human emotions that have not been felt in these wooden pews? I doubt it. The wood on these pews has seen it all.

Happy Armistice Day

Thank you for your service.

Not The Best, Not The Worst

Finally, after months and months of putting it off, I finished my steps. As you can see, they're not the best yet not the worst. The color is not as light as the flooring and not as dark as the kick trim. The places where I put the plastic wood putty still show but not as brightly as they did before. I was on my knees on the stairs all day on Sunday. First I used my brown sharpie pen to color the putty spots. It worked best if I smeared the sharpie ink immediately with spit. I tried water and it didn't work as well. A rag and a sponge didn't work as well either. Only the finger rub with spit on it blended the sharpie ink into the wood. After a while I got real good at gathering spit in my mouth while coloring the spots. Basically I have licked my stairs. I rubbed my finger so often I pulled the skin away from the fingernail a little bit. After that was done I put another coat of stain over it followed by a coat of shellac. Then I waited a half hour, sanded the shellac, wiped it off, and put another coat on. Wait, sand, wipe, and paint. Wait, sand, wipe, and paint. I am glad it is finished. I am also glad I didn't have to paint the steps because even thought they're not perfect, I like the fact that the wood grain shows. The steps look worn and used and that is okay because the whole house looks worn and used so everything matches.

Project Feeder Watch Update

Saturday: Black capped Chickadees-5, White breasted nuthatch-1, Crow-1, Red-bellied woodpecker-1, Goldfinch-4
Sunday: Black capped chickadees-5, White breasted Nuthatch-1, Slate-colored Junco-1, Downy Woodpecker-1, Cedar Waxwing-6

What I Found In My Closet

One morning this week I was searching in my closet for a particular shirt. The lighting is not good in there so I was on my hands and knees with a flashlight, kneeling on the closet floor and peering above me searching in vain for this shirt. But, much to my surprise, on the very far left side of the closet where I seldom go, I found this (the one in the picture) shirt. This shirt is nearly as old as my friendship with DK in St. Cloud. She is the one who bought it for me back in the 1970's. I knew I had a Suzuki shirt but I never realized it said Motorcycles on it until this week. This old shirt has seen a lot of good times, hence the stains and the missing "I". See the sweat stains around the neck and arm pits? That is from a combination of dancing and changing flat tires. As a poor college student I couldn't afford new tires so I bought retreads. It wasn't unusual for me to get a flat tire and I would always change them myself. See the orangish stains on the midsection? Probably spilled a little of our favorite drink of the time - Southern Comfort and Tang (powdered orange drink favored by the astronauts). There is a little burn hole near the bottom hem. That happened at a 4th of July party. I was seated on the ground next to DK. Bob Seeger was singing "Night Moves." This party had a bon fire going. Somebody lit off a bottle rocket and it went awry. The bottle rocket bounced off me and went into DK's lap. She was seated cross-legged and the bottle rocket made a circle in her lap several times before exiting and going who knows where. We both sat in amazement watching her lap being illuminated. Things always happen to her - a modern day Calamity Jane. Ah, what a night it was. I found more than a shirt in my closet, more like a fabric of memories.

The Twelve Steps Of Insanity (tongue-in-cheek)

1. We admitted we were powerless over nothing and we could manage our lives perfectly and we could manage those of anyone else that would allow it.
2. We came to believe that there was no power greater than ourselves, and the rest of the world was insane.
3. We made a decision to have our loved ones and friends turn their wills and their lives over to our care.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of everyone we knew.
5. We admitted to the whole world at large the exact nature of their wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to make others straighten up and do right.
7. We demanded that others either shape up or ship out.
8. We made a list of anyone who had ever harmed us and became willing to go to any lengths to get even with them all.
9. We got direct revenge on such people whenever possible except when to do so would cost our own lives, or at the very least, a jail sentence.
10. Continued to take the inventory of others and when they were wrong promptly and repeatedly told them about it.
11. Sought through nagging to improve our relations with others, as we couldn't understand them at all, asking only that they knuckle under and do things our way.
12. Having had a complete physical, emotional and spiritual breakdown as a result of these steps, we tried to blame it all on others and to get sympathy and pity in all our affairs.

Hats Off To Medina City Council

I have to admire the members of the Medina City Council who, despite numerous protests, decided to act on the larger picture and welcome a 407 foot wind turbine to the city landscape. They wanted cheap, clean and renewable energy for their city. The turbine is expected to supply the energy needs of 500 to 700 homes.