It Strikes Me Funny: I have a one track mind made of wood Part 2

With the best of intentions and restraint I brought home one piece of rare wood recently.

I felt I could make bowls out of an old cedar telephone pole that had been chopped and dropped onto a nearby curb.

And because my wood lathe hasn’t arrived (ETA late April) I also felt I shouldn’t get greedy, or ahead of myself, so took only one prime piece.

However, a day later, I mentioned my treasure to friend Don over coffee at the Red Roaster and his eyes lit up.

He asked, “Where is the cedar pole? We can take my truck.”

“Not far,” I said.

Within five minutes, refills in hand, we were on our way.

As we approached the site we noticed a man throwing sections of cedar pole into the back of his own truck.

“Go farther west, Don. The best pieces are in the next block,” I said.

Though the pile had been picked over, one beautiful section remained at the same spot I had retrieved mine - and into the back it went.

A few minutes later, in my driveway, Don looked it over closely, wondered how he would cut it, how he would actually use it, worried what his wife would say about another addition to his growing collection of odds and ends in the garage and slowly scratched his head.

“Well, if you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” I said. “I’m pretty sure there are a lot of good bowls in this piece.”

(Stink. I forgot to add, “And for five bucks I’ll take it off your hands.”)

Moments later, we carried it into my backyard.


Good intentions? Restraint? Out the window.

***

Hey, I tried.

And trust me, the cedar won’t become fire wood. Any other projects I could pursue besides bowls?

[One good idea already suggested by Jane at Gaston Studios - small cedar shakes for my birdhouses.]

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