Journal

“To appreciate the wild and sharp flavors of these October fruits, it is necessary that you be breathing the sharp October or November air. The out-door air and exercise which the walker gets give a different tone to his palate, and he craves a fruit which the sedentary would call harsh and crabbed. They must be eaten in the fields, when your system is all aglow with exercise, when the frosty weather nips your fingers, the wind rattles the bare boughs or rustles the few remaining leaves, and the jay is heard screaming around. What is sour in the house a bracing walk makes sweet. Some of these apples might be labeled, To be eaten in the wind.” – Henry David Thoreau

Summer has ended, and what a challenging resilience-demanding season it was. I feel like this year has been a deep immersion into adaptation, contemplation, gratitude, and humility.

For me, my contemplation is in the future and how I want to use my time, so I can adapt and pivot from the direction that I was heading to one that is more authentic with my values.

I’m shifting my energies with the website for a while or perhaps forever. More sloyd, less social media. I plan to write more on the website’s journal section. If you enjoy my rambles, please consider signing up for my email newsletter. It’s quarterly, but it may switch to monthly, and that will be the place where I share most of my thoughts about books, carving, and life going forward.

Lastly, I want to share my gratitude with everyone who took the time to do an interview with me. The connection meant a lot and the thoughts you shared about carving and life inspired me and many other readers too. Thanks!

September | November

Interviews with Patrik Bäck, Paul Jones, Eddie Thomsen, Ron Fricke, Andrew Phelan, and Benoit Schöni.

Applewood spoon

Pear spoon (with a newly picked pear). We picked 24 pounds of pears and twice that amount of apples.

Spicy pear infused vodka. Excited to try this in a week or two.

Even when you’re staring at a screen all day, there can be moments when the real is available to enjoy. Tea and yogurt with pears. Spoon by Greg Nelson.

Wagatabon (not the traditional method)

Sadly, this month, I found out that E.J. Osborne had passed away. Although I never met EJ, he played a huge role in my path to spoon carving. I had read a book by another carver that started my interest in carving, but I waffled a bit about doing it, and then I found EJ’s book at the library. Funny thing, it was his book cover that drew me in at first. I love that cover! It’s contours implied a journey, and when I read it, that’s exactly what I began. Thanks, EJ, for being one of my guides into the world of carving and woodworking. Rabbi Harold Kushner once said, if you want to be immortal: plant a tree, write a book, and have a child. EJ did those things and so much more. For EJ’s wife, daughter, I’m so sorry for your loss, and the three of you are in my thoughts.

August | October

Not much to write about during this month except that carving offered some solace from the chaos that seemed to be present everywhere this month.

Walnut pocket spoon.

birch spreader : roasted ash cooking spoon : black cherry spreader…

October | December

Unfortunately, no interviews this month. I’ve been busy with my family and carving. As much as I’ve enjoyed doing the interviews, I’m preparing to wind down from them. It’s been fun and many thanks to those folks who took the time to send me their thoughts.

We spent some time at the farm in early August. As always, it felt good to get away from the city. The neighbors who rent the fields were baling straw and the smell of the straw bales was wonderful.

I gave my wife an anniversary spoon – the third since I started carving. I loved this one, and so did she, so it felt good to give it to her. She’s been pretty supportive of my carving, and I love it when she spends time with me in the woodshop. Last October, she took a class at North House Folk School on willow basket making. It’s exciting to watch her explore this new craft. I think that craft is an important element in a relationship. Love is something that requires skillfullness, humility, and the fire to persist despite whatever life throws your way. Love ain’t easy, but it’s damn sure worth it.

So deep into carving, I didn’t realize it had become dark around me. Summer nights.

I had a bit of good fortune in early May, so I bought a Kalthoff axe as a treat to myself and I love it! It’s lighter than my Gransfors, and my sore elbow was screaming for a break. It’s pretty amazing for hewing, and can cut so thin that you’re only left with one side of a shaving.

My son and I have been doing a lot of stop motion animation, so I made a photo copy stand from a free pallet in about 30 minutes. I saved myself $150! Plus I think it will work well for spoon photos too.

Birch butter spreader.

July | September

I interviewed Aaron Margolis and Deirdre McGrath.

I’ve been watching a lot of Roy Underhill’s The Woodwright’s Shop, so I picked up his book Khrushchev’s Shoe and found this quote by David Campbell, “If you were placed on trial for being creative, what evidence of your guilt would the prosecution find?”

I like to think that my spoons, photos, and words would be some bit of evidence, but I know that there’s so much more inside me. The trouble is always the self-discipline to do the work. Being creative means putting your ass in the chair to write the words or pick up the draw knife to make a spoon and some shavings. It’s getting out in the best light to capture the photo. Not listening to siren’s call of a movie or checking social media every hour. That’s why I’m still pretty innocent when it comes to being found guilty for being creative.

The days after the Fourth of July bring elder flowers, so I made some champagne from them… hopefully!

I infused a few quart jars of sour cherries in vodka.It was a bumper crop this year!

I love cooking spoons.Here’s birch cooker and lovage.

Little spoons are my favorites right after the ever functional and humble cooking spoon.

I picked lots of black currants over the past week at Rush River Produce. It’s once of my favorite summer rituals, and I’m glad that we could still do it safely during the pandemic. I infused some in vodka and gin – my winter tonic – and used the rest for jam.

Late in the month, I was carving outside one night under a beautifully greenish orange tornadic sky. Thank goodness I had a glass of Modist Brewing New England Ale. A hazy brew for a hazy humid day!

Carving was good this month. I managed to get out almost every night after my son went to bed. The days were long, and the light was good. I had lots of lillac and walnut waiting to find their new form .

June | August

I interviewed with Jeff Orgon this month.

We went to the farm early in the month. I was grateful to be in a quiet and safe place far from the city (and internet).

I mailed a small check to North House Folk School. I’ve always appreciated what the good people who work and teach there do, but in reading their annual report, I was awe-struck by how they created a hands-on craft kit for every family in Cook County, MN, and Grand Portage as a way to serve local youth during the pandemic. I knew that they were community-focused, but this really demonstrated that idea as real action for me. My check is small because we all in our own way might be worrying about finances and future economies, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in spoon carving, it’s that every little bit counts. I hope you can help support North House Folk School or your local craft and folk art school. Why? I think that the following quote by Harley Refsal is another good reason:

“I love that craft is such a great leveler. I see this especially in the younger people I work with. Folks who’ve heard over the years that they’re not good students, and then you set them down with a blank and a knife and it just clicks for them. You can see their confidence growing over the course of the class. At the same time, I’ll see people who have always been at the top of any class they’ve taken pick up a knife and find out that they’re all thumbs. They aren’t always having the most fun, but they’re learning important skills too. At the end they have much more empathy and patience than when they’d started.”

Finished a pear spoon that was inspired by a spoon that I bought from Maximilian Neukäufler.

This is my favorite time of summer when the days are long and the temperature is just right. Hope you all are well.

I redesigned my website. Please give it a look over and let me know what’s missing that you would like to see there.