Visitors

Last week was pretty unusual for a couple of reasons.  First, it was the hottest week of the year with daily temperatures getting into the high 80s.  That might not sound too bad but we are used to cooler weather, and since I was working almost exclusively in the barn attic the temps there were considerably warmer.  Second, my asocial self has a typical regimen of social interactions fairly limited beyond Mrs. Barn to include church and Bible Study and getting milk from the local farmer on Sunday afternoon, a trip or two to the hardware store, and a weekly trip to the post office to mail polissoirs and beeswax.  But last week was something really different.

On Monday I was visited by a woodworking club from Charlottesville who came to hang out for the morning and join me for lunch in town.  Long time friend HerbK organized the get together, and they all promised that future fellowship and teaching/learning would be in the works.

On Tuesday my new acquaintance Rick came by to show me his new (to him) vintage wooden body jointer plane.  It was really nice and I helped him tune it up a bit.  Rick is the new Presbyterian pastor and an accomplished musician and instrument maker, he is currently constructing a new hammer dulcimer.  One of Rick’s parishioners is my friend Neal, also an accomplished musician and luthier.  They’d been talking about starting a local woodworking club with the first project being everyone making a guitar.  That could be a lot of fun and I definitely have the space to host it.

On Wednesday my friend Lud came over to spend part of the afternoon with me up on the fourth floor (attic) while I was working on the second Gragg chair.  The last time he had come for a visit to the barn it was just a skeleton, so we are looking at late 2007.  Way too long, Lud!

On Thursday I was visited by Bill and Sharon, he a sailor and architect, she a designer with a passion for Eastern aesthetics.  They are long time acquaintances who are becoming good friends.  I especially liked Sharon saying, “I get a real sense of the order here.”  They spent a delightful couple of hours with me touring the whole barn, letting me talk at length about all the things that interest me.  Bill is also a jeweler/metalsmith and is encouraging me to get my foundry up and running.   Maybe this winter.

Then on Saturday Chris came to spend several hours doing more video for the Gragg chair project.

I truly love the visits but I’m worn out from all this human contact.