Forgot about the Uncle Wiggly sign-off, love that! And I love that you’re publishing all these, you must have SO MUCH just waiting to be read in your computer!
I'm afraid needle and thread aren't much on my radar. As Lord Wickensham III famously noted about the quilt his mother made for him: "It's a bloody job, quite!"
Personally, when it comes to what I'll call "repetition art" I have a thing for shingling walls. I've done a lot of it, since I was in my teens including a portion of my house here in Michigan. There's a certain satisfaction when you climb down off the ladder or scaffolding and see the day's work: fairly (emphasis on "fairly) neat rows of shingles. When I put them up (consider each a stitch, I guess) there's the kind of repetition that frees the mind to wander--it a wonderful task for people who write. Up close, however, each shingle is individual, having its own grain and knots and color variations. The beauty is in the details, the imperfections. But when you step back and look at the finished wall, there's unique reward in all that unity. True, you can't spread it on the bed, but when the winds howl off Lake Superior, my little house remains snug and tight.
Oh John, Beautiful meditation on installing shingles. True that your mind is left to wander, to think about the weather, the measuring of the distance between courses, the penne alla vodka you made last night, or how to write that snarky sentence you’ve been struggling with and how you want to avoid semicolons; then, of course, when your seated at your desk, trying to write that perfect sentence, all you can think of is shingles. 😊
Good Lord—the “gift” that doesn’t stop giving! I could feel the parents’ worry viscerally. A long narrative poem about King Philip’s War? I’d love to read that!
Ahh yes, I dove deep into King Philip. We used to live in Dighton,MA., where a lot of the action happened. A work in progress. I’ll have to dig it back out!!
Forgot about the Uncle Wiggly sign-off, love that! And I love that you’re publishing all these, you must have SO MUCH just waiting to be read in your computer!
I forgot that I read Uncle Wiggly to you guys!! And yes, I’ve got a lot hiding in the crevices of my computer! 😘
I'm afraid needle and thread aren't much on my radar. As Lord Wickensham III famously noted about the quilt his mother made for him: "It's a bloody job, quite!"
Personally, when it comes to what I'll call "repetition art" I have a thing for shingling walls. I've done a lot of it, since I was in my teens including a portion of my house here in Michigan. There's a certain satisfaction when you climb down off the ladder or scaffolding and see the day's work: fairly (emphasis on "fairly) neat rows of shingles. When I put them up (consider each a stitch, I guess) there's the kind of repetition that frees the mind to wander--it a wonderful task for people who write. Up close, however, each shingle is individual, having its own grain and knots and color variations. The beauty is in the details, the imperfections. But when you step back and look at the finished wall, there's unique reward in all that unity. True, you can't spread it on the bed, but when the winds howl off Lake Superior, my little house remains snug and tight.
Oh John, Beautiful meditation on installing shingles. True that your mind is left to wander, to think about the weather, the measuring of the distance between courses, the penne alla vodka you made last night, or how to write that snarky sentence you’ve been struggling with and how you want to avoid semicolons; then, of course, when your seated at your desk, trying to write that perfect sentence, all you can think of is shingles. 😊
Good Lord—the “gift” that doesn’t stop giving! I could feel the parents’ worry viscerally. A long narrative poem about King Philip’s War? I’d love to read that!
Ahh yes, I dove deep into King Philip. We used to live in Dighton,MA., where a lot of the action happened. A work in progress. I’ll have to dig it back out!!