Thursday, September 3, 2009

Ceder log, more wooden boats than you can shake a stick a stick at, and our rain forest


I will not be posting this for at least a few days but I thought that as long as I was stuck in a hotel room on my own for a few nights this week (out of town work related) that I would spend my time more wisely than I usually do under these circumstances and get caught up with you all out in wooden rowboat land. So if you were wondering how things are progressing on our little Whitehall, I have very little to report although last weekend I did spend the majority of the day on Saturday with my neighbor Ralph cutting into the big cedar log that we brought in last winter. With summer coming to a close we start to look around at what is on the beach that can possibly do damage in that first storm that we all know is coming sooner or later. A giant log can be a blessing and a curse. The log has been getting smaller over the last month with large chunks harvested for a few wood carving projects and now the last 17 feet is being squared off. We will be pulling it up on the boat deck so that it can start to dry out. I still believe that there is a row boat inside of that log just waiting to be cut and shaved and bent and sanded into shape. I did bring home with me a “scrap “to make some more floor board slats for the Whitehall. Meanwhile I have a few interesting weekend adventures to look forward to even though, again, the boats sit and wait. September 12th we will be making our yearly pilgrimage to Wooden Boat Festival - Port Townsend, WA to drool over the boats big and small, eat some fresh corn on the cob, fresh steamed oysters, hot roasted cashews ,drink some of Port Townsend Brewery’s fine Scotch Ale (one of my favorites) and listen to some music while planning to bring one of our restoration projects up in the future to inspire others and give us a great reason to spend more than one day.
Before that while Amber is down at the beach keeping Captain Jack company, feeding the cat, and keeping an eye on the boats Rhonda and I will be exploring Washington’s very own temperate rain forest. By the sounds of the whether reports we will not only get to experience the majesty of the ancient trees but the reason that it is called a “rain forest”. It’s ok though I think that one should see a rain forest in the rain, I think that it looses something with out it don’t you think? At any rate I will report back on that one.
One more thing, I would like to say welcome home to my parents who have been in China for most of the summer working with a volunteer group teaching English to Chinese students and more importantly building relationships with these student that I am sure will advance understanding between our two cultures. The West couldn’t have two better people to represent the best that our society has to offer. The kindness, generosity, love of life and for each other, can not help but show even to some one that has had just a short encounter with them…I think even in the short class room setting that they just worked in. It sounds like, by their descriptions that some of the students formed a lasting bond with Mom or Dad or both. It makes me proud to tell people about their recent travels.