thaw

I am very conscious now
of the vast spans of time
that must be earned
and fought for

the time neglected
and stolen
the times of triumph
and awe

I'm transformed and almost complete
surprised with every entrance
all four stand in unison
in conversation

I pause
and touch
sometimes I pull one out and sit down
just for the hell of it
I'm intrigued by my decisions
and ponder their influence

more than ever before the desire to see the table comes to hand
the prototype has been tweaked
dimensions coerced
aesthetics refined

a head-long plunge is all that awaits
I may have to install a chainfall for working the top
the massive underside cove will only shed a few pounds
and the walnut breadboard ends will easily make that up

envision

As the full snow moon rises
and meteors rain down from above
persistent blankets of fluffy white
trace my nervous trails to and from the shop

the months have paid off
the final piece in my set of four
ready for good weather
so the finish will dry

I'll go back and make some changes to the second two
by the fourth many design considerations have finally matured
but for now a well deserved break has been earned

Having also spent the last three years pondering and tinkering
I'm prepared to plunge
we'll have to live with this setup, so I've decided to mock up the table beforehand

some scraps from around the shop
and a good excuse to clean up
I feel free to band saw re-purposed lumber
grab the screw gun and tack it together
take it apart and adjust
cut off an inch here and there
just have to find the courage to clear off the detritus from the sheet of plywood in the rafters overhead

by seeing the piece full size I notice the subtlety in the curves
begin to understand the structural forces
check for knee clearance
for four and six

now I know the changes I need to make
I can return to Sketchup
and judge the results

forget about .00001 shavings here!