I’m taking a break from social media until the new year. I so value the people and inspiration that I’ve found in the spoon carving community. Folks continue to amaze me with their spoon carving and woodworking knowledge and skills. Their work motivates me to keep moving forward and that’s what I want to do. I want to carve without distraction for a while. I will be thinking of you all as I spend my winter nights carving away in my flippin’ cold garage.
I will continue to add interviews and journal entries on this website. I’m also really looking forward to taking a class with Masashi Kutsuwa at North House Folk School in March next year.
I’ll be turning 50 this month. I’ve been dwelling on it far too much lately, and the thing that my thoughts have been lingering on most is that time, and life, pass by way too quickly, so I’m taking a little break from the phone to spend more time, as Wendell Berry once wrote, in the peace of wild things.
As much as I enjoy the fellowship and inspiration I find with my fellow spoon carvers, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about memories. How many memories do we form from our time online? Really, what do you remember, and then compare it your memories formed from real moments in life. “Oh wisdom is lost in the trees somewhere” as Sean Rowe sings, “And it’s time to leave something behind.” When I wake, still weary from this mad world we live in, I find some solace in a wooden spoon at breakfast. Maybe I made it or perhaps you did. When I hold it, and bring food to my mouth, both sustain me.
Spoons are such simple things, and that’s why I love them. Maybe I relate to a branch or tree separated from the forest only to be found and formed into something new with both beauty and purpose. I want to get better at making them. To honor the wood I work.