Cedar walking stick

cedar - 37" - $60

sold

There must be a sin in there somewhere...

The close of a good day. I spent the last couple of hours sitting on the porch with my wife drinking coffee, next to a grill loaded down with hamburgers. Kicked back with our feet propped up we watched as the whitest clouds I've ever seen slowly passed overhead against a pure blue sky....

The grass was cut, lightning bugs were swimming around in the humid air, James was desperately trying to figure out how to launch a ball from a contraption he made to "reach geocentric orbit" (his own words), Patrick was inside doing psychology homework, the only sound we could hear was the wind in the trees and the slow sizzle of the hamburgers on the grill... Occasionally we would peer over the porch rail to locate James as he was at the front edge of the yard and out of earshot.

I spent the day riding on the kawasaki mule, shooting guns with my nephews, playing with kids, and walking with my mother. To see the excited look in the eyes of kids at play and to hear the wisdom in my mothers words seemed to be fitting somehow, from the oldest generation to the newest. Of course it made me think of my father and what he would've been into today. If he had been my age he would've waited until we were all done shooting and bragging, then step up and rip the dead center of the targets out in rapid fire and smile smugly as he walked away without a word. Later in life he would've driven out there on the kawsaki mule and sat by watching as we shot, telling us what we were doing wrong then praising us when we did it correctly... and dammit, he was always right. During the last part of his life he would've sat on the patio saying to us, "Now ya'll don't shoot the chillun, keep an eye on them out there.." as we would come inside to get a drink. Lord I do miss him on days like this. With all the kids around and a continual filing in and out of family he would've been in his element.

From our place you can't see the road, its about seven hundred feet up the driveway. When darkness began to take over we called James in to eat burgers. I reached over, picked up the camera and took the shot above. That's our view of the road from our porch at dusk. This kind of evening is exactly what life is about...

Spring

It's early. There is a thunderstorm passing us by to the north, you can see a bit of lightning and hear the rumble of distant thunder. The windows are open and the light pat of rain can be heard outside in the trees. The deep smell of new green in the woods is thick and intoxicating. Everyone is asleep and the darkness seems complete at this hour.

There is a stack of freshly cut wood nearby ready to be carved into hiking sticks, a pot of freshly brewed coffee is waiting for me to consume it. The aroma of the coffee is dancing with the freshness of the rain and the green growth of spring wafting through the open window in front of me. There are a multitude of reasons for me to me irritated lately... yet right now I can't think of a single one of them.

Every spring I read The Lord of The Rings by Tolkien. I never set a time to begin it, the appropriate moment just seems to appear for the adventure to begin. I feel that time is at hand. When I was a small child fumbling my way through the books for the first time I never imagined the impression they would leave on me. The story is the ultimate telling of the human experience. Loyalty to honor and friendship beyond anything else, the realization that when all else is stripped away those are the things left.

Within the realm of our mind we build many castles, both dark and grand, it seems a true shame that when we complete these fortresses we seem to spend most of our time lingering in the dank solitude of their dungeons, allowing our minds to become overrun with the blackest moments in our lives. This time of year brings everything back to the beginning. Not a time of starting over, but a moment of reflection over what has transpired and clarity of what is to come.

Many people attempt to define themselves or even try to "find" themselves, feeling that along the way they have become lost. You were never lost. You've always been the same, coming to terms with this is why so many people seek refuge from something, never realizing that its themselves they are running from.

The influences of other people or situations in life are many and varied yet the only constant in all of these moments is you. Surely we change over time, life is a grand ride through rough and still waters, but the core of who we are remains constant. What we have dealt with shapes who we are to an extent, yet to define ourselves this way isn't what needs to be done. People seek solace in many ways and from many sources only to realize nature itself shows us every year what needs to be done. That is simply to remember who you are.

Regardless of our lives to this point. Be it many places and many people, both good and bad as we feel it, the core of our existence remains unchanged. The only thing brought to bear is what do we do with it? Choices...

The house begins to stir, people wake from their slumber and the day starts anew... What do you choose to do with it? This day will never come again in your life, make it extraordinary...

Terran Ambrosone

Three years ago I started wood carving. When I had completed my first piece I went on line and googled 'hand carved walking sticks' to see what was out there. There were hundreds of sites, shops and pages to be found. I clicked on 'images' and began thumbing through what lay before me... it was then I became a fan of Terran Ambrosone...

At the time she had a site that contained many how to videos and photos of her work. Whenever I would become discouraged with my lack of ability I would head over to her site for inspiration. And she has indeed inspired me for the past three years. I became familiar with all of her work... oil paintings, digital art, wood carving and she is now thinking about ideas for children's books... The woman is unstoppable...

There were many late nights when I would be stuck not knowing where to go to from the corner I had carved myself into.. I would head over to the computer and go to her site just to get an idea of what to do next.... then realize I had been sitting there for a couple of hours thumbing through the pictures and videos, cursing her talent and shaking my head...

One night I was going to show Julie a walking stick she had done when I noticed that her site was gone... I panicked... I searched all over for her and found only a few links mentioning her. I was devastated.. I had lost the one person that had truly inspired me in my hobby. Periodically I would browse the internet looking for her work.. Over time I started the facebook fan page we have and one night as I was posting some photos on it I began to go through the fan list... And there she was... I couldn't believe it... Terran Ambrosone was following my blog and was a fan of our page... I felt like a little kid, I was so excited... Immediately I jumped on facebook and sent her a sappy email of the "ohmygod ohmygod' nature, not caring how silly she might think I was... She was very gracious and extremely nice to me.

Terran has recently started another web site at http://terran.yolasite.com/ and I encourage everyone to go check her work out. She has provided me with the photos I have featured here on this post, its so cool to be able to speak with a personal hero... Her email address is terranart@hotmail.com if you have any questions for her she will be glad to help out. I am looking forward to watching her site grow and develope into a huge success as she features her work...







Terran comes from the West Kootenays in southern British Columbia and has spent the past decade on Vancouver Island... She recently moved back to her birthplace in the West Kootenays and is surrounded by its beauty as she creates her work, and with views such as that, who could blame her.... Her carvings are in the Alberta Provincial Museum, she is a veteran of many juried shows and has won many awards. Her work has been featured in several galleries... She was president of the Vancouver Island Woodcarvers Association, and was also involved with the Nanaimo Arts Council. Today I consider myself honored to count Terran as one of my friends...

An oak hiking stick

With the new week I am starting on the poplar series of hiking sticks. This oak hiking stick I finished last week. The piece came from my brother David. After the flooding a few months ago he brought me this oak stick. The stick had washed up on the banks of the Chattahoochee river in Heard county where he has some property leased for a hunting camp. He was near the river once it had begun to recede and picked it up, using it help balance himself as he picked through the tons of debris washed on shore. The hiking stick is 47" in height has three faces carved on it and a leather wrist strap run through. The price is $50 You can email me at crickhollowcarving@gmail.com or call me at 678-423-6541 if you are interested in purchasing it.