Day 16: Hills and Curves

Is it too late to be a Transcendentalist? I'm a firm believer of leaving the indoors, stripping off my clothes, and running into the woods.

"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — a mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God." Emerson

But there are ticks out there, dang it!

Last night I fell asleep with the moon cooling me, and today I awoke with the sun warming me. Sleeping in a hammock is nice.

A friend of mine asked...well you read the post she made. Interesting.

The curve of the tree line is really pretty, and it definitely has inspired the shape of my gourd banjo. I did the original design last night after poring through four books on banjos. A point that Dena has really emphasized is that the appropriation of a thing is just wrong. So the books she gave me to look through are historical. Because of Val's interest in the history of the banjo we have two at home. Even so, I have a lot to learn.

Last night we watched the film "The Librarian and The Banjo." So disregarding the form of the short film, I thought it really interesting. This is the second time I've watched it, and I'm sure they'll be a third. It is really important to Dena, and it should be for all of us, that the world recognize the banjo as an instrument that is born out of Africa.

So I'll definitely honor that memory and the tradition, but, just like I do my dulcimers, I'll make the banjos I build my own.

Still, it is crazy that the banjo is mostly played by old white guys after it was appropriated from the African slaves who would not give up their means of expression, their cultural identity. Good for them--and watch "Django" if you haven't!

I saw a really big calico cat out in the garden. She walked around like she owned the place. I guess she does! "The scientists found that the feral cats had home ranges that stretched across large areas; one male kitty’s range covered 1,351 acres (2.1 square miles). That's a lot of badassary!

I meant to work well into the night, artificial lights blazing. But by 7pm my feet were hurting--just look at all of the sawdust that was in my shoes! I've been working since about 7 this morning. But I want to leave here with a working banjo. That might happen, but it is pretty clear it won't be finished. I'm learning so much! And the experience of building with a knowledgeable person is too good. Treat yourself to working with Dena if you can!

And while I'm certainly showing off my "Enough is Enough" shirt, I'm really showing the sweat stains I've earned today. The last time I looked and smelled like this was when I was living in Israel a few years ago working on an organic farm, which is where I fell in love with goats. Not LOVE, but love the cheese and milk love! Silly.

I really did cover up like this every day. I hiked into the Negev Desert by myself. I went just over 26 miles. I camped on a hill and looked into the Sinai Peninsula. Man, that was quite a trip. Val was not too happy about it. In retrospect it was pretty stupid. But I'm stronger in a lot of ways for it!

Visiting Dena's place has been really fun, informative, and is forcing me to think about the what I'm doing and why. I won't change the direction in which I'm going, but I will certainly acknowledge more from where the tradition came. And how it is passed to me is really important, too.

I know I posted it a couple of days ago, but check out Dena's web site (Dena Lee of Storygourd Workshop) to see what she does and offers. There are only a handful of gourd banjo builders and teachers out there, and I'm lucky enough to know a couple! Here is some of her work!

And she is working along side of me--or in front of me--and sometimes beside me. Whatever. You get it. Dena is making a gourd banjo using cherry. It is pretty wood, and I love the sleek design. We were talking today about how to design and build a gourd banjo. There are many variables, just like with any instrument. And there are so many acoustic considerations, too.

I'm really enjoying the carving of my neck and peg head. I'm using my knife, a carving tool set, a file, and two dragon rasps. I've used all of these to carve on wood, but I've never used rasps to remove so much wood and really shape it. Just wow!

Dena says these are special, and I cannot disagree because they work really well! They are pretty pricy, but if you're thinking of a gift for me then any of these will do! They are definitely on my tools that I need to get list!

I have a bit more to go, and the finishing part probably wont happen here--but maybe I'm misjudging the time. I'm really excited to see the end product!

We also addressed the gourd, and boy do I have a pretty one. Something that is important to me is that all of my work be pretty. I'm not afraid to say that word just like I'm not afraid to say God. Both are good!

I've only cut three gourds, but I've had trouble with this. So watching how Dena does it is a wonderful thing for me. She showed me how to make a cut into the skin of the gourd and then use a different saw to get through the innards.

Then I had to clean all of the junk out of the inside. Another thing that Dena taught me is that I should always do "toss test" to test the density of the gourd.

I got a lot done, and I'm really happy with what I'm learning about building a gourd banjo.

Okay, how about some politics? Some of you may know that I grew up around guns. We've always had them around. My dad taught me to shoot as a young child. I learned to shoot  The following lines are from my graduate work:

As a child, I would go with my dad to meet his friends in places that I cannot remember how to get to because the places were so far into the woods. We would shoot guns, like my dad’s 357. We also fired rifles and shotguns. I fired my first M16 rifle in a sand pit when I was only 11 or 12 years old. All of the guys there were impressed that I could hit my target at ranges as far as three hundred yards.

For my fourteenth birthday I got a twelve-gauge shotgun, some shaving cream, and a bag of razors. When I was in the army I had to qualify with an M16. I had to hit 20 out of 32 targets that ranged in distances from ten yards to three hundred yards for the basic qualification. The first time I tried to qualify I hit only 19 targets. By the ripe old age of 17, I had the expert marksmanship shot out of me.

I think that a hunter should be able to buy a rifle, and I would never begrudge a farmer a pistol to protect his property, especially livestock. And a shotgun with birdshot is fine for home defense--a lot of shot and no damage to your neighbors house.

But to all of those who swear by the Second Amendment I would simply ask what "well regulated Militia" you belong to. If you don't belong to one then shut the fuck up about the Second Amendment.

And it is laughable that what seems to be like mainly Republicans are complaining that a "No Fly, No Buy" proposal would violate the civil liberties of the innocent because I certainly have not heard any such complaining by the Republicans about civil liberties and no fly lists up until a gun was thrown into the mix.

Do you know that my dad was shot and killed? Yep, by a gun. Not a person or a spoon or space ship, but a gun. And my brother and I have both been shot. So I have a lot of credibility when it comes to guns and their usage.

I'll give conservatives the right to bear arms, so what will a conservative give up to make the US safer?