Month: September 2014

Snap Shots

/ Gary Tucker / Leave a comment

So I’m in the process of making the movie of my life. In fact, we all are. It’s my prayer that God is the director but that may not be where you are right now. But since this is my blog, I want to share my movie. The first 25 years or so were about me and a lot of other bit actors like parents, brothers, a sister, and other various humans. We all interacted, grew, changed and moved in and out of each other’s lives.

In 1984 KT joined my movie and it became our movie. We’ve been making it now for over 30 years. We’ve added our own bit actors and have joined with others in the making of their movie. It has been a busy 30 years for us. Sometimes we heard God saying “cut, print it” and sometimes not. I would call those times Snap Shots. We stop and assess where we are and where we need to go. What do we film next?

We are currently enjoying one of those snap shots. We’ve been in Maine for 7 days and it has been restful and beautiful. God painted this part of the world with an amazing pallette of colors and beauty. But even in the midst of a snap shot , we’ve been able to make some mini movies. We made one on Sunday afternoon. After a great worship service we went on another hike. It was every bit as difficult as the first one we went on yet different. When hiking in Maine one walks on tree roots or rocks or both. In Colorado we have trails that have switchbacks. Not so in Maine. The trails here go straight up (or so it seems). In the past some very rugged souls installed rocks for steps which make it “nice” for going up but hard on the joints coming down. When all was said and done, it was an enjoyable movie in the midst of our snap shot.

One thing I have noticed about these snap shots is that they can be deceiving. We have been blessed with beautiful weather and colors. Very few bugs and other critters. But it’s a lie. The current picture is not the entire story. We spent the night in Greenville, Maine.Greenville has averaged 120″ of snow since 1981. Then the black flies come out for two months in May and June. Oh yeah , I forgot about the -30 degree temps in January.

So while Snap Shots are a wonderful  respite from the movie, don’t get stuck there. Get back to the movie.

Thanks for perusing,

Gary

Gotta Enjoy

/ Gary Tucker / Leave a comment

I promised myself that I wouldn’t say it and yet I did. I immediately felt guilty. When you say something out loud you cannot take it back. At least with writing you can edit or delete before sending. Talking is much harder. We all say things we don’t mean or at least mean to say out loud. But I did.

KT and I are in Maine for nine glorious days celebrating our 30th anniversary. We arrived in Boston at about 12:30 AM yesterday and by the time we picked up our luggage and a car , it was after 2:00. We asked the Google lady to get us out of town and she did a much better job of directing than I did following. Anyway, we made it as far as Seabrook, New Hampshire and we had to stop. By this time it was about 4:00. We had stopped at 2 other hotels but both were full. We had  the typical continental breakfast complete with bad coffee. Pulled out my Google phone and found a nice coffee shop in Hampton Beach , New Hampshire. Finally got back on the road and drove north and the west to Bethel, Maine.

We checked in at the bed and breakfast and got settled. Neither of us were feeling well so we stayed in and rested.
It’s our first night, I’m sicker than a dog and I said “it”. Finally fell asleep about 1:00 AM and woke up this morning feeling better. We did a walking tour of the historical homes in Bethel, went and picked apples, drove on a great little road with lots of color,visited a covered bridge and finally ended up at Grafton Notch State Park. According to our Maine book there was moderate to strenuous 2.4 mile hike. I think it was mislabeled. It should have read
“strenuous and beyond”  It was an amazing experience with a gorgeous view from the top. All the while I kept thinking about my mistake.

The plan is to pack in as much activity as possible. Just notice the first day’s activities. Knowing what we wanted to do , I simply uttered, “9 days is not enough”. I wanted more. I was not content with what God gave us. This is the time that KT and I have and whether we’re scrambling over boulders or walking along the beach, I, through God’s grace will be content. I gotta enjoy the moment.

Thanks for perusing,

Gary

Pure Freedom

/ Gary Tucker / Leave a comment

So this week I’m out riding my mountain bike instead of the road bike. It had a flat and I didn’t want to take the time to fix it. Anyway, I’m out close to Morrison Colorado and riding up the hill toward I-70 but I’m going to turn right before I get up there. It’s about a 3 mile climb on a narrow rode with plenty of car traffic. Who could not love this scenerio. As I’m pedaling up the hill I’m thinking about this blog post and writing it in my head. I’m thinking that riding my bike is very close to building something with hand tools in my shop. I am providing all of the power, getting stronger and better everyday. It was one of those ah ha moments, not quite a V-8 moment but close. When I’m riding my mountain bike, I’m free to go a lot of places that I can’t go on my road bike. That is freedom. I can do things with my hand tools that I can’t do with power tools. It is also easier to do things in different places with the hand tools. If I want to work on my back porch or out in the yard in the shade, I can just take my portable bench out there and work away. I don’t have to worry about stringing a cord or getting a hernia carrying heavy power tools out there. Then, there is the “green factor”. I had no idea how environmentally friendly I was for all of these years, either by pedalling my bikes or pushing my hand tools across a piece of wood all the while consuming “Little Debbies” oatmeal cookies for fuel.

So not being tied to an extension cord or a gas pump is pure freedom to me.

Thanks for perusing,

Gary

It started with Randolph

/ Gary Tucker / 1 Comment

Sometime during the year 1775 Thomas Jefferson was riding in a coach from his home in Virginia to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. I’m not sure what was going on inside his head during the 260 mile trip. I can envision that his brain power was near overload capacity. Think of all that was going on in the colonies at that time and then there was talk of kicking King George and company off of the continent. The colonists needed a Declaration of Independence and Jefferson was given the task. I can see him on the journey, bouncing around inside the coach, trying to get his homework done and it just wasn’t happening. When he gets to Philly he secures a room with Benjamin Randolph, a cabinet maker. Imagine that, a diplomat renting from a tradesman and probably eating with the family as well. How times have changed. Anyway,  Jefferson gives Randolph a set of drawings for a small lap desk with a drawer for his writing essentials and a fold out writing surface. Randolph builds the desk, the Declaration was written and the world has never been the same. A tradesman saved the world.  At least this is how I think it happened. some details may have been left out, but you get the picture.

 

Fast forward to the spring of 2006 and my seventh grade son is on a field trip to Washington DC. He visits the Smithsonian Museum and sees the desk. He comes home and a couple of nights later comes out to the garage where I was trying to build something. I just remember that Kristin’s car was out of the garage and there was an assortment of tools and a lot of sawdust. He politely flashes the lights to let me know that someone has entered my domain. I shut down everything that was making noise and dust so that he could talk with me. He simply said that he would like for me to make him a lap desk. I had never heard of the story above, so I was at a loss as to how to respond. I think I said something like, “Do you have a drawing or a blueprint?” He grabbed my drawing tablet and a thick, dull carpenters pencil and drew me a picture that was about 1″ x 2″. Keep in mind that he had seen the desk but had not mentioned seeing it until this time. I looked at his drawing and told him, “I would have to see what I could do”. He did not know that was code for “Dad doesn’t have a clue about this”. Fortunately, later that year in October, we were on a trip to DC to celebrate my father-in-law’s 80th birthday and I got to see the desk. I knew that I would have to build it now but I also knew that I did not have the skills to build such a desk.

 

Research had to begin. I found a set of plans and also a great little book about the desk. It cost about $8.00 then, now it’s close to a $100.00. I found a beautiful piece of Honduran Mahogany that would work. It measured 1″ x 8″ x 8′ long.  I studied everything I could about how it was built then and some recommendations for how it should have been built, and how to build it today using today’s techniques. Being hardheaded and stubborn I decided to build it just like Benjamin Randolph did, including using hot hide glue from a glue pot. Everything about this desk is small. It measures 14 & 3/4″ long, 9 & 3/8″ wide and 2 &1/2″tall. The drawer sides are 3/16″ thick. The book stand support is a scant 1/8″ thick with a half-lap joint of only 1/16″. So I had to start practicing everything. I learned how to rip a board down the middle to make the 3/8″ leaves. I learned how to sharpen and use  the handplanes and card scrapers. I learned chisel techniques and how to sharpen them for specific purposes. Remember, it’s all about process.

 

Finally after six years of my son waiting for his desk, I was able to present it to him before he left for college. It’s not an exact replica. I left out the space for an ink well and quills and just made a space for pencils and such. I made the paper storage to fit our current size of paper with a relief cut into it in order to get the paper out. I believe it to be the most intimate item that I have built to date with hand tools. I enjoy just holding it and feeling the wood through the simple oil finish.

 

I don’t know if this desk will be used for great writings or not but I do know that it started me on this journey of hand tool woodworking. These are the tools that I used to make the desk:

26″ rip saw, 26″ crosscut saw, 10″ dovetail saw, assorted bench chisels, a  1/16″ dovetail chisel, 3 handplanes, card scrapers and some 400 grit sandpaper. And here is the desk image                                         image

You can see a few more pictures under Stuff I Make.

Thank you Benjamin Randolph and thank you for perusing,

 

Gary

 

Where’s the Rants?

/ Gary Tucker / 1 Comment

You may have noticed the name of this blog is” Old Man Rants ‘n Rambles” and you may be wondering why I have not posted any rants. The answer is that while I have not posted any I have written five or six of them. But let’s back up a bit and discuss the reason for having what I call a “Rant Space”. My poor family has endured my many rants through the years and just sort of rolled their eyes or brought them up later just to have a fun laugh at dad. Now that I have my “Rant Space”, I can rant to my heart’s content and no one knows it. To my way of thinking, a rant is a great way of releasing toxic, bile infested junk that finds its way into my thought process. It’s a lot like experiencing a hard day at work and then coming home mad at the world. Unless I have a way to release it like a “serious” run or a hard hill climb on my bike, the dog will get kicked or I will yell at the wrong person at the wrong time. Think George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. So when when the bad toxic junk creeps into my mind I simply write a rant. I will usually let it sit for a few days and then trash it. I’ve learned that President Lincoln would do the same thing for his generals. Write them a nasty letter, telling them to get on with it or whatever he would say and then he would burn the letter.

But, “aren’t you a Christian?”, some one might say. As if being a Christian saves one from having bad days or thoughts. I just say, yes I am and Jesus still loves me. I was reading from Galatians 5:19,20 this morning and it says that the “works of the flesh are obvious” and it lists real some nasty ones. Then in verse 20 it lists ” hatred, discord, jealousy,fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions”. Those sound like the seeds of rants to me and I don’t want that for this blog. Then in verse 22 it says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law”. That seems to be a better way to live, to walk and to write. I want this space to honor God and rants cannot do that. Besides, it would only give my boys more ammunition to laugh at me even in a loving way.

Thanks for perusing,

Gary