Day 12: Exemplification of Tradition.

Today was a really good day, and it started off with a bite to eat here at Gretchen's. I had a couple of carrots and some cheese. Then I rode down to Dwain's and had some really healthy cereal topped with fresh fruits, flax seed, yogurt, and honey.

We talked a bit about the history of dulcimers and more about life. Then we got to it!

I did a couple of more book matched boards. Dwain is just letting me go with the task since I've got it down. I'm getting a lot of precision cuts with the jointer plane.

I cleaned up what I was doing, and then I went to work on the scrapers I was working on yesterday. I finished cleaning up and putting edges on some cabinet scrapers and a couple of scrapers that Dwain made. And then I had a lesson in making my own.

We started with cutting pieces from old saw blades. The steel is really hard, so they make a good type of scraper. So there is cutting off with a cutting wheel.

Then they have to be ground into shape. Now I have to tell you that I'm sometimes scared of grinders. When I was a kid the guy whose farm I worked on wanted his mower blade sharpened. I said that I could do it because I had access to the shop where my dad worked. So I had no idea how to do it and little guidance, and as I was working the blade shot out and hit me. The owner of the shop was mad or scared or something, and he threw me out. The dude I worked for asked if I drug the blade down the road to sharpen it because it was so bad. It really was so bad.

But I got through it, and I made me some nice scrapers! Now I'm going to make a home for them to live in.

Dwain was off to Attica Prison (he goes every Thursday), so we knock off a bit early. I had a nice ride back. My legs are going to be so strong after six months of being here. I've never worked them out like this, even when I run a lot.

So I got back to Gretchen's and I wanted to be outside. So I started on some of the outside tasks that Gretchen laid out for me. When we were negotiating a price I bartered a lower rent for manual labor. So Gretchen made me a list because I love to work from lists! There is a busy-tree-thing that was just out of control. So I cut it back and trimmed the top and cleared out what was underneath. So now some other plants can grow there.

Gretchen has a great yard with lots of plants. Val and I kill any plant so we don't have them. It is odd because I tend to end up in places filled with a large variety of flora.

This guy visited the yard this morning, and I had to run him off because George and him were about to fight.

Gretchen's neighbor is an eccentric old dude with some kind of phobia that keeps him away from crowds and strangers. We've spoken a few times, and I've borrowed tools from him to work at Gretchen's. He has a beautiful Harley sitting in his garage. He built it from the frame with all original parts. It is a '73. The color, some kind of maroon, is blood read with just enough blue to cool it down. Clearly he doesn't ride it anymore, so I offered to ride it any time that he needs it to move. I'm licensed.

So he came over tonight to share with me the business card of a local luthier who builds high-end guitars. Jim, the neighbor, collects guitars. He is really smitten with Martin's, and he owns several. He also owns a Fender Stratocaster, but he says that is his corvette of his collection; he doesn't drive it, he just likes to look at it and hold it. It is pretty.

Anyway, he comes over with the card and we talk for a while and he says that some day I should come over and play his guitars--I asked how warm this one Martin he described played. He leaves and I keep doing my homework. Then he comes back a while later and asks if I'm coming over or what. So I do.

Damn this guitar sounded so nice. It is a 1953 Martin mohagany and brazilian rosewood guitar. Holy crap. I can't even play the guitar and this thing made music for me even though I moved the strings like an elephant moving rocks with its trunk.

After mashing the Martin I went home to finish my homework, which includes this blog. It is now 11:15 and I'm in bed. But I've got to document what I'm doing so that I can reflect on stuff and share what I'm doing. It is tough to blog everyday, but it is a discipline that I've committed to.

Dwain doesn't have a retail outlet. His business is commission based. He has had two orders that he has been working on since I've been here. They are both in the finishing stage, and they are hanging up drying in this image. One is due for the varnish, and the other is getting shellac.

Yesterday he started another machine, and today he cut out the peg head and started working on that. His craftsmanship is really remarkable, and it is easy why people seek out his instruments.

Today we talked a bit about tradition, and I wanted to emphasize that I would honor the traditions that came before me regardless of what I go on to do. I want him to know that if I get his legacy I will honor his efforts and teachings, as well as Walt's.  He said that he sees in me the ability to do stuff beyond what he is doing because of my art training. And it is his job to make sure that I know how to and can do whatever I envision. He is not stuck on what I have to do to merely mimmic his work. What a great thing for any student to hear!