Opportunities

The last few days have been hot.  I would tell you middle-of-August hot, but I had a friend point out to me the other day it is somewhat typical to have days like this in June.  In the Midwest, in the summer, when you have weather like this, one of the things which we all think of is the possibility of a tornado.  Typically, this is something which comes in the evening as the day cools and the different temperatures swirl together. 

On June 13, 1968, forty-nine years ago, my mother, sister and I were on the floor of a cabin on West Okoboji in northwestern Iowa when several tornadoes hit at once.  The devastation was incredible.  The miracle was there were no lives lost.  The following days were miraculous for an eleven year old boy who loved mechanical stuff.  Mrs. Jones, the lady that ran the resort we were staying on offered me a bow saw and told me to cut up anything that had fallen.  And I did ... what fun.

But I'm not really thinking of any of this today.  I'm thinking about lost opportunities and the times I have said “No” when I should have said “Yes."  This time at the lake was a really good example.  After the initial cleanup was done, a lot of people flocked to the lake to help out.  One group of people that came were scuba divers.  In this group was a man from my hometown.  His name was Bob Smith and his son Larry was in my class through high school.

Apparently, one of the tornadoes at the lake had actually become a waterspout, pulling water into the sky and effectively lowering the level of the lake.  Immediately after the storm, we went outside and could see things that had been blown into the lake sticking out of the water.  Later, when Bob went in to recover these items, he found them under multiple feet of water.  This still isn't the important part of this story, but we are on the way there.

One day Bob asked if I wanted to try out scuba.  He wasn't talking about a class or anything like that; he was just going to get me “geared” up and take me into the lake.  This is something I had always wanted to do, but when presented with the opportunity, right then and there, I said “No thank you.” 

What? Why would I do such a thing?  Looking back on it now, I have no idea, but I remember being scared - not of being hurt or worse, but being scared I wouldn't be able to do it perfectly the first time.  Wow.  The funniest thing about it now is that seven years later, Bob was the person who took me through the training and got me scuba certified.

I am listening to a book on tape by Jon Acuff, and he speaks about this exact situation.  He talked about being invisible and making mistakes.  In that lake, in NW Iowa, if I had made a mistake, it would have been in front of one or two people.  I wasn't working on a television special with Jacques Cousteau diving off the Galapagos Islands to be viewed by millions.  It was a learning opportunity and a mistake would have been in front of a small group who knew I was just learning this skill.

But with all of this laid out there, this was not the time to learn this lesson.  There were multiple more times in which I behaved exactly the same way.  Whether it was skating, skateboarding, downhill skiing, waterskiing, it was always the same. I didn't want to make a fool of myself, and I always thought there would be another chance.

Well, sometimes there aren't second chances and the opportunity in front of you will be the only time it presents itself.  So, what am I going do with this info?  I am going to work  to  turn to the Jim Carrey movie and become the “Yes Person.”  I'm going to work to say yes at least more than I say no.  I'm going to work to recognize what things really are don't-miss opportunities.  And I am going to do a better job of recognizing when I am invisible.  When can I make a mistake or a misstep without the whole world watching?

You have been a big part of this over the last couple of years for me.  You've been part of an audience that reads the words I put out there, and when I make mistakes, you just understand them and we move on.  When I run into many of you face to face, you are supportive and encouraging of the things that I talk about.  I appreciate you and thank you for following me on this journey.

Now, go out there and find a way to do something that you want to and that you have said “No” to in the past.  Have a great day.

Lemonade

As the summer heats up, I find myself thinking of earlier times. People call them better times, and often they may be, but I just think of different times.

I was a small Iowa townie. My community was 2500 people, almost all of whom knew me. Not only my direct family, but my extended family lived there. Often times, I had trouble telling the difference between the two.

As days grew longer in the summer, we spent much more time at my grandparents' home. Both of my grandparents worked for the county - Grandpa drove a rock truck and Grandma worked in the county engineer's office. Neither one of them ever knew how to take time off, so summer at Grandpa and Grandma's was always about work. Mostly, it was about horses and the training of horses. Some summers we had as many as twenty horses belonging to other people we worked with and trained.

One night last week, as it was just reaching dusk, my memory took me back to those days. It was the time of the day you reached for all day long. This was when the last horse of the day was worked, cleaned, and put back in the barn. This was the time of day when friends and people that came over would say their goodbyes and head home. This was the time of day for a long exhale, finally finished with all that needed to be accomplished.

This was also the time my grandmother would break out the lemonade. This was never any kind of just-add-water product. This was lemonade made the way my grandmother had always made it - real lemon juice, real sugar, ice and water. This was lemonade served in the burgundy pitcher she always used for lemonade. It was good lemonade in and of itself but what came with it was better.

This was the time of the day when everyone there would stop, sit and relax, discussing the things that were on their mind. These were the times I got to see the world through others' eyes. Whether the discussion was about gasoline prices or the amount of rain we'd had, I always learned something. Even more important, at this particular gathering I was treated more like an adult and less like a child.

I wonder what the equivalent is today.

As we raised our own children it was hard to break them away from all the diversions in their life. The gameboys and computer games, the books, movies and television - all of it. We did not have the equivalent of drinking lemonade at my grandmother's picnic table. I think that was a miss. The interesting thing for me is now that the kids are older, when they're home, we work to make this exact kind of time. Although all our days are crazy busy, we try to stop at least once during the day and just talk. And just like those times of my grandma's house these moments are some of my favorites. This is when I find out what my children think and what's important to them. This is when I find out about new trends, new musical artists, and information I didn't even know existed.

In this mile-a-minute world in which we live, I encourage you to try and find time to have a glass of lemonade. Find time with family, friends, acquaintances, and even people you don't know very well but would like to know better.If we can find a way to do this we will all grow from the experience.

Like Minded

I have been fortunate in my life to have worked and played with a very diverse group of people. All the way back to my days at Drake, I remember conversations about things that make us different - family traditions and experiences from our past. All these things make us different and and if we choose to learn from each other - make us better.

I carry a great deal of this experience with me daily, and it shapes the way I look at the things I have to handle. It makes the way I interact with people different than it would have been without these experiences. I've been listening to a book by Jon Acuff and he talks about the fact that sometimes, until you know the things a person has experienced, you can’t really understand the way they interact with you. This is so true, and maintaining a “lens” through which we look at others, based upon their history and not ours, is tough work.

And then ... we get a chance to spend time with people that are a little more like us. I got to experience this environment a couple of weeks ago at the annual “Weekend with Wood.” These people, all 250 of them, are my people. They love the things I love. They reflect back the way that I view a lot of the world, or at least the part of it about woodworking. Now, based on the group, and me telling you they were a reflection of me, evidently I'm a 75 year old male with some hearing loss.

That weekend was spent talking to people who not only love the same avocation as me, but in many cases they are much more accomplished at it. I spend time at these events learning from the other participants. Pile on top of all of that the wonderful speakers brought in for the event, and it was just about a perfect teaching/training/networking event.

What did I learn?  First and foremost I learned again, if something is not working, look to your process. So many times the process is the flaw. My case in point is around my rail and stile doors. I've gotten pretty good at these, which is a good thing, as I am about to tie in to Sara’s new kitchen, but there has been one ongoing issue I have not been able to fix. In the middle of one of the session, the crystal bullet fired into my brain. I realized the process I use has a couple of steps reversed. In fixing the order of process, my issue will be resolved. Worth every cent I spent.

I also convinced myself it might be possible for me to start working with items which are not straight. I've always said my woodworking is about straight lines and right angles. Well, what do you know! I may actually be able to add some curves and sculpture to my work. This opens up a whole new set of things I can produce. And now ... after all the times I've said NO, it might even be time to think about building chairs with shaped seats. Crazy, right?  I know.

Finally, I learned once again there are always more “toys” out there to add to the woodworking arsenal. I took my first class in CNC (computer numerically controlled) woodworking. This has been in the big commercial shops for years and was always something that amazed me. Now it is coming to the home shop for only about $6000.00 or (of course) more. To use the words of one of my children, “I Need That.” On top of this new home shop technology, I spent time around the folks from Epilog. They make a laser engraving system that is just awesome. If you are considering sending me something for Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, or Kwanza, please check out their website. This will make the things that you build much cooler by adding a little “bling.” https://www.epiloglaser.com/index.htm

I should have bought one of these years ago, but I needed a way to get to work and it was either a truck or a laser, and you just can’t drive a laser.

So, in this diverse world I love so much, I spent three glorious days with people that like to do the same kind of hobby work I do. I found it uplifting, encouraging and just downright motivating. My friend, Russell, is the first benefactors. He needed a project completed and I knocked it out more quickly than I usually do. I've included a picture - a desktop for the new standing desk he is putting in his office.

And finally, if you are a woodworker, wear your hearing protecting, darn it. Hearing loss is slow and irreversible. It would be nice if when I go back to Weekend with Wood in a couple of years we can all still talk to each other. Have a great day.