So
how did I become a furniture maker in weathered woods? Well, in the days
before Nikita gaveled his shoe in defiance and as the smoke clouds of the Cold
War curled up ominously from between the onion domes of the Kremlin, twins were
being born in the other Moscow, in Idaho. Okay, what about the furniture?
I’m getting there!
My
earliest recollections of woodworking included gnawing on the crib to test wood
durability and inspecting glue joints by immersing them in drool. Later,
at the tender age of seven I climbed our old apple tree, inched my way out to
observe a robin’s nest, and promptly came crashing down together with nest and
rotted branch. It knocked the wind out of me but knocked some sense into
this Idaho boy’s head. I gained a necessary insight into the rudimentary laws
of bending moment, shear stress, and structural integrity in regards to wood.
This
knowledge was further enhanced by splitting cordwood with my brothers for eight
summers. Later still, less crude woodworking techniques were revealed to me in
junior high shop. From that point on I was Hooked On Wood. Early adolescence
also found me pruning Christmas trees. In later teens I worked summers at the
local sawmill pulling lumber off the greenchain. This experience quickly
pointed in the direction of higher education, leading to a landscape architecture
degree.
In
the years following college I favored a move toward carpentry in the landscape.
Twelve years of this “hands-on” work gave me ample experience in woodworking knowledge
and techniques. It also created too many aches and pains for me to continue.
With my wife Lesley’s encouragement I made the transition to FURNITURE-MAKER.
