Puttering in my woodshop, I’ve learned a few things about life. First, most men love tools. As Thomas Carlye once said, “Man is a tool-loving animal.
Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing; with tools he is all.” I’ve come to believe he is right. Woodworking tools, mechanics tools, golf clubs, fishin’ pole, yer truck; they all count as tools. We are lost without them. If you have a good array of tools, you are sure to make it to heaven. Charles Kingsley said, “Have thy tools ready; God will find thee work.” You see, it all makes sense. Men have no confidence without tools!
Second, women hate sawdust in their kitchen or anywhere else in the house for that matter.
I think that comes from their ability to shop. You see, they buy nice things for the house and nice clothes and don’t want to get them dirty. They view sawdust as dirt. I think it gives the house a quite nice aroma myself.
In any case, mammy does a nice job of keeping the house clean and tidy, so I keep the sawdust in my woodshop and life is good. By the way, women’s ability to shop is uncanny. If only we were as good at collecting and using tools and they are at shopping and decorating…..I think I’ll have to dedicate a separate post to this subject.
Third, wood is good! It comes in many varieties, colors, and grains. Some wood is soft and easy to sand; other wood is hard and requires more effort to get a smooth finish. People resemble wood in a lot of ways. Some are soft, some are hard, some are dark, some are light, some have a smooth grain, others a rough grain, and ya, some are knotty. Most people have good qualities and bad qualities just like wood. If there was only one kind of wood, woodworking would be boring.
Last, funny things happen in life along with dead serious things, too. Enjoying the journey while being distracted by “Are we there yet?” or “I’ve got to pee!” is the challenge. I’ve had a few flat tires along the way as well as some car breakdowns.
Some things I handled quite well; others I’ve acted like Homer Simpson. Funny things always make looking back at my journey more pleasant. I figure we are all puppets on life’s stage with things being thrown at us all the time. Just like routers used to shape wood, I am the only operator of my life’s router which can shape me for good or gouge me up and make me look and feel picked on like the cave man from Gieco. Like the router and firewall on my Internet connection, I alone determine what gets passed through and what gets trashed. My goal is to nip all the smut in the butt!
