It's in the Air

When we peeled the siding off the south barn, which will be the bench room of the new workshop, all 24 posts were rotten at the base. I can’t say I’m surprised, but it was wild to realize that the building was basically floating.

Yeah, not what I wanted to see, but a project like this always carries unknowns, and you have to bend…or break. Luckily, I have expert help and they were able to jack up the barn, cut off or replace the rotten post and pour new footings

The large timbers and general lightness of the building kept the thing standing, plus I think the siding helped!

It’s all shored up now and ready for the next steps. I hope to move in in the early part of next year and have the first classes in there in February.

Seeing the barn floating, reminded me of a wonderful explanation by Richard Feynman of the structure of wood. I think you will enjoy watching him explain it, but here is the short version. Trees grow out of the air, not the ground. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop getting excited by this idea. Feynman is my favorite physicist. Not only was he brilliant, but he had a wonderful way of explaining things. There is a treasure trove of films online of him lecturing.

Big projects like this workshop always put me at the edge of my ability and comfort zone. Too many choices and decisions to be made, usually with varying degrees of success. It brings to mind scientist, Linus Pauling, who said (paraphrase) “An expert is someone who has made every mistake in a given field”. I especially like referring to this when teaching turning. I tell my student that they need a larger pile of ruined turnings to become truly comfortable. This quote is especially poignant because late in his career Pauling was convinced that vitamin C could cure just about everything. I guess it’s tough to get to every mistake, life is short.

Here are a few more progress shots of the barn. It’s been tons of work and I’ve been fighting a respiratory infection for about a month. But when I see the lovely light, I know it will all be worth it.

Last week, I was feeling especially overwhelmed, when I got an unexpected package from a former student and painter, Don Zenas. It was just the pick me up I needed. He wanted to remind me of how far I’d come, so he painted this lovely watercolor of the barn before I started the project.

You’ll have to come by the shop when it’s done to see the painting in person, the screen doesn’t do it justice. I can’t wait to hang it, but first, I suppose I need walls.