I don't know if you can hear the music, but I can hear it all over the back yard. Mostly Country, but it varies from time to time. This is the work shop, tool shed, catch all studio. Whether fixing the weed eater, tiller, or like today making a walking stick. With the weather here I'm able to work outside threw Christmas. If it does get cold I just make a fire. The little one likes the fires because she can make "Smores". I always keep a chocolate bar around just for that. With that I guess you are wondering what we are cooking. Well, get a pot out we are cooking "Great Northern Beans".
Now, if you are new. Go back to the story about fried green tomatoes, it will tell you all about making your cornbread. The rest of you loyal followers lets go out side, the leaves are changing.
That tree is changing every day, I don't have to ride to the mountains. The fall is all around. I raked up 8 bags of leaves the other day and put them around the Azalea's in front. Now, I hope you didn't need help with dried beans. If you did, fill pot with water, add a little salt, and add beans. The salt helps the water to boil, that might be a wives tale, but I do it any way. I love beans and cornbread. Ant no Jiffy in this house. A lot of people like sweet cornbread, and if you do, just add a little sugar to my recipe.
These trees are seen from the front porch. In talking with friends on the Internet, they already have snow sharks. What are snow sharks? Well that is when you are sitting on the porch, or looking out the window, and theirs one, theirs another one. Not really snowing yet, just a flake here, and a flake there. Around here it can do that all morning and not snow. Those are "Snow Sharks". Let's go find a good "walking stick", stick.
This one is Oak, I make a lot from cedar. Oak is a hard wood. Cedar is a hard wood too, but easier to carve. Oak is what they make baseball bats of. I make my own ax handles from oak. What you going to carve on it? Uncle Chuck, what you going to carve on it? Well the wood has to talk to me. I have no idea, I just start chopping with a machete, and using a rasp to shape it.
What you say I tell you a story. This is a true story. I have been making walking sticks for a long time now. Even made the local news paper. They came out to my house to do an article about my paintings of the passion of Christ done in a sculptured style on canvas. It was Easter time, they thought it was a good feature story, till .......... The photographer and reporter started asking about the walking sticks. For my second 15 sec. of fame. I had been in a news paper in North Carolina for the paintings and now at home for my walking sticks.
In the land where the stories of our Bible come from, the people watch after sheep. This story goes way back, back past Jesus. Past Moses, even Elijah may have had his, when he was carried up to heaven. Their staff. The staff was their testimony to God. The testimony of all the events in their lives good and bad. You see there were no books like we have today. The writing of that time was marks on clay tablets.
Shepherds would have a long staff with a hook, to grab a little one to keep it on path with the rest. It was strong to lean on on the long journeys to find grass. At night while it was quite he would take out his knife and carve the birth of a child. On his walking stick, he might carve the marriage, or death of a loved one. The testimony of his life was always with him. If he run across wild dogs, or robbers, it was his weapon. Then at the end of his life and he stood before his maker. He would hold his "Staff" or his "Walking Stick" high in the sky above his head and shout "This is my TESTIMONY to God of my Life"
This stick is starting to take shape. With a few curves here and there to give it, it's own personality. As you can see at top there, which is the bottom of the walking stick it is still rough. The rasp shapes it. I don't use any power tools to do this. I like it this way, I feel like I give a piece of myself to the wood and it gives piece of it back to me. Each one is different.
These are just a few, the last one there I gave my sister. She just had a hip replacement. From what I've heard about the surgery she won't need to use it much. Well, I've got this one with some stain on it, and as time goes by I'll carve on it. What it will be, I don't know yet. Some one might just ask to have it so they can carve it, who knows. One of these days, we all have to stand with a testimony.
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