Tag: Word of the Day Challenge

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Magpie

My mentor Warburton was more than a bit of a magpie. He defined the term as being curious about all arts and crafts. His specialties were ecclesiastical carvings, but he was also proficient as a chaser and engraver, did a bit of Icon painting, and wasn’t afraid of doing the occasional cabinet work when a commission required it.
In art conversations, he was indefatigable, displaying his knowledge and wanting to stimulate your interests. He maintained that great artists saw art as an encompassing realm. Therefore, your attraction was not to just one form but to many.
I didn’t see things as he did and found some of his interests cryptic. For example, an interest in tonal music left me cold, and working to opera playing in the background did nothing for me. But I respected his opinions, and he opined that I would come to appreciate his point of view in the fullness of time.
While I like carving to quiet music in the background, I never warmed to tonal music or opera. But concerning more physical arts and crafts, I, too, became a magpie possessed of fascinations well beyond the scope of my carving. Over the years, these interests have grown rather than subsided, making me a better person because my focus is not on one point.

A focus on one point. Funny how that comes up. So often, we are told to focus on one thing, but in the Japanese art of Iaido ( the art of drawing the sword), we are told to diffuse our attention and gaze broadly at the mountains. Too much attention on one point may cause us to miss important things outside our focus. In Iaido, these may be attacks coming from other sides, not from the enemy facing us. In the arts focusing on one point means missing different approaches.

The great samurai, Mushashi, mastered poetry, drawing, writing, and painting. His maxim was that we could learn one thousand things from one thing. We were not limited except as we limited ourselves.

People interested in arts and crafts should be magpies, read widely, experiment, and play. I’ll never master pottery, but learning to “throw” a pot enriched me as an artist and gave me an appreciation for what people who work in ceramics achieve.
Get out there, cross over to the Wildside, and try something different.

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One-Trick Pony

Robert Browning said, ” A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for.” That single phrase has been significant to many of us in the arts and crafts. Sometimes it excuses our foolish infatuations with muses that we are unsuited for. But, more likely, it explains the flurry of far-flung projects we get involved in. Critics accuse us of mania, but we call it exploration.

Quietly, some evenings we regret grasping this particular nettle so firmly. It hurts. We imagine what life might be like to be a one-trick pony. All you do is one thing, but you do it so well, make money, and sleep peacefully at night with the satisfaction of a day’s pay earned.

Then you do a show, an exhibit, or someone happens to see your work, and they say., ” I wish I could do such lovely work.”
You smile, thank them, and suggest that it’s all just working hard at it. Then, they walk away with their purchase, and you count the till.

Years ago, my mentor Warburton warned me, “Some days you tread the grapes and others you drink the vintage.” To be trite, it can take a lot of grapes to make a vintage, and sometimes you wonder when the next opportunity to tipple will be. But that’s the critical word; you know you can’t and won’t change. So you really pity the one-trick pony who’d love to create but won’t.

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Caloric Demand

OK, so what. Yes, I helped Kitty finish her breakfast, my breakfast, and her lunch. We have a mutual assistance agreement. She gets too much, and I finish it for her. She and I have a deal. I clean up after her. It’s not normal to go away and leave food in a bowl. No one in my family would do that. Puppies eat till there is nothing there. I suspect that cats are so skinny because they have bad eating habits.

But the deal ties Kitty and me together. She needs me to clean up for her, and I need the calories; I’m still a growing pup.

Hey! It makes it easier on you, the housekeeper. What do you mean you’re not? I see you picking up the empty bowls all the time. And who else puts my toys away in the toy box? Not me!

Don’t get so angry. That’s only going to…what’s the work the kitty used on me the other day when she was so mad? That’s only going to “exacerbate” the problem. So now do what Mom tells you to do. Please take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Count to ten? Whatever.

Look, it’s just going to happen. I need the calories. The more I zoom around, chase you over the yard, guard the house against the mailman ( you can’t trust those guys), bark at dogs in the street, and beg for dinner, the more food I need! So I have a high demand for calories.

I have Caloric Demand.

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Manual of Arms

I found it after searching in the 1940 Bluejackets Manual in my maritime collection. It’s not something that I refer to very often. However, I have it on hand when I need to look up obscurities, which was one of those times. I had made some stupid comments that upset my wife, and wincing, I mentioned that I should do the 99-count manual of arms 99 times. She had no idea what I was talking about but appreciated that I was apologizing.

Later on, I thought about my comment. The Manual of Arms was something we trained on in Navy Boot Camp. It was also the favorite punishment assignment if you goofed up. Report to the gymnasium and join the other critters in a rather grueling 99s times repetition of the manual of arms; no options for other assignments. Just do it.
You did this with your trusty 1903 Springfield rifle. You had its serial number blazoned into memory because if a petty officer asked you for it and you gave the wrong number, you’d do the entire thing over 99 more times. If you dropped it, you slept with it in your bunk. Ugh.

So, why did this come to mind as a punishment for an intemperate comment? Because I was assigned to this duty so often. Yes, it is true. I was less than an adept sailor. All my superiors concurred that Carreras was a real drifty shit screw-up. He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t keep his mouth from spouting out some unwelcome opinion about why the Navy sucked. It mattered not the least that his assessment could be described as accurate about the chow, how poorly the uniforms fit or other things. But you weren’t allowed to say that with the hearing of “those that matter.” After a while, I could do the manual of arms and think placidly about other things. If they had the music on, it was almost pleasant.

Anyway, I’m standing in the kitchen feeling penitent about my comments; I grab a broom and start the Manual of Arms, “Come to ready first count…come to ready second count…come to the ready third count, and so on. I did about ten reps when I realized I wasn’t in the shape I was in my teens. But I can see some definite advantages to this as an aerobic exercise. So why don’t you try it – “down and forward…forward and up…up and shoulders…side pushes”, and on through side twists. It’s a perfect complete physical workout.

I think I’ll start an exercise class; the uniform is bell-bottom dungarees, a chambray work shirt, a sailor’s gob hat, and an old broom handle (1903 Springfield is optional, except for the Second Amendment enthusiasts).
OK, let’s all try it in order now. If you can’t remember the serial number on your broom, you’ll start over! On the first count!

Let’s see. A Tik Tok video. A longer follow-up Youtube video on how to do it. And, of course, a follow-up Amazon book. I might make something of my Navy experiences after all. What a surprise that’d be to my Recruit Commanding Officer.

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Building

I received an inquiry. Would I be interested in heading up a new not-for-profit? Several previous colleagues mentioned me as a skilled field ethnographer and creator of education and cultural programs. So, would I be interested? Fundraising and staff development were big items for the initial years!
Typically polyloquent, garrulous, and talkative to a fault, I found it hard to push the word out from between my teeth: NO. They both sat back into their chairs and seemed stunned that I’d so bluntly refused. The toothsome one on the right smiled at me and said, “But you are uniquely qualified.” Her partner assured me that the Board had many strong corporate members eager to help, and I wouldn’t be alone. It would be a unique challenge to create an entirely new model of a cultural organization that could become a model for others.
I sat back and digested what I’d just heard. I’d been in the trade for a long time before decamping for a job trotting video cameras around and working weekends in a woodcarvers shop. I’d heard all those catchphrases before; the unique challenge, new model, and strong corporate Board. Behind them, I glanced into a mirrored wall and looked at the greying hair on my head. Once again, but more politely, I said, No.

“Well, if no is your answer, why don’t you give us why you feel so strongly about this?” I answered,” I’ve heard all the terms you’ve used before. I’ve seen more than a few with colossal promises fail many times over the years. Models don’t turn out to be repeatable due to unique local circumstances; strong corporate boards don’t raise funds – they raise havoc by interfering with day-to-day operations, and unique challenges are just jive talk for ” there are some real issues, and whoever takes the job is going to have their hands full. Sometimes the organizations wind up defunct, not because of a lack of vision but because day-to-day operations become so challenged that the staff can’t do their jobs. Promised funding dries up, collections are dispersed, and communities feel misserved.”
Quietly absorbing this, they glanced at each other and responded, ” Well, would you be interested in serving in an advisory capacity to the Board?” I diverted the conversation to another topic, How tight the grant market had become. Later I thanked them for lunch and left for home.

The above is a fictional distillation derived from about five conversations I’ve had over the past 15 years. Luckily I’ve now aged out of the market for these jobs. Always significant challenges, limited compensation to start, an incredible opportunity, and so on.
What would be my model for how to make something like this work? Start very small, say in a storefront, build genuine community-wide support, and create programs that grow organically from the community’s needs and desires. Forget about fancy Boards, models, and significant funding from the government or corporations. Grow from the grassroots. Don’t forget where you came from if you develop and grow bigger. but this is not how many organizations see things.

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Rail Trail Weekend

This was a rail trail weekend for us. On Saturday, we hiked along a trail linking Ayer, Massachusetts, and Groton, and on Sunday, we walked the Bruce Freeman Rail trail in Concord. Between arthritis and hip replacement, the more strenuous sort of rough trail hiking that we used to do is problematic, but a rail trail offers the perfect compromise. You are out in the countryside hiking, but the surface is regular. All that was needed was a pair of sturdy walking shoes, water, a cane, and the bold guide dog – Max, the trailblazer, to guide you along the way. Max was there to protect against wayward red squirrels and the occasional rabid frog. He insisted that following him was the only way to avoid extinction at the paws of other hiking dogs who needed to be greeted in the prescribed doggy manner of a whoof and a sniff.

On the Bruce Freeman Trail, there is a section of very fragile marsh and swamp habitat. The local Concord Middle School provided informative signage on the types of plants and wildlife that could be seen. The bikers speeding by missed the clever artwork and brief descriptions, and by doing that, I think, reduced their experience. The signs were creative, attractive, and informative, and I found them interesting parts of the rail trail experience.

blue heron
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Messes

Some of us are on a safari, sampling life as we move from place to place or experience to experience. Others seem tied to one locale by an invisible byssus that holds them to one environment.
At some time in my wandering, I landed briefly at a coastal community and envied their sense of home location. They, too, wandered away for a while – to work a job, college, or a voyage. But they always returned to the cove, harbor, beach, or bay.
Occasionally, I like to visit, feel connected, and feel home away from home. So last week I called an old friend, Paul. I mentioned I’d love to visit and see the old town. He said come on and visit, but it’s not the old town anymore,” the only thing that looks like it used to is the Town pier, but that’s overrun with riff-raff off the cruise ships. I’ve been thinking about moving further Down East, but I understand they have the same problems.”

Perhaps somewhere off the map, there are still destinations where cruise ships cannot navigate, climate change does not destroy, or the coast is not inundated with the jetsam and flotsam of a world’s rejected plastics. But I’m not going to go on safari looking for it. I’d only be joining the mass exodus of people looking to escape the mess we’ve made of what we have while carrying the problems we’ve created to new places.
Paul’s advice to the people on the cruise ships? “Stay home, clean your messes up, and don’t bring them where I live.”

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Authentic

Age and experience can be confusing to those who’ve lived one path and only one path. 

To them, it’s a question of authenticity; “well, which experience is uniquely you?” while to you, it is a question of authenticity because the variety of experiences is the true nature of life. 

Had enough time to go around the block several times and have lived through numerous events? Your life is more than a film with thirty-second montages. Prominent events loom over shadowed valleys. You tend to focus on the prominences and avoid talking about the valleys. But in quiet moments, the valleys draw forth the muses you sing and write about.

For some, the consumption of others’ life experiences is as close to excitement as they’ll come. So “What’s on Netflicks tonight, Honey?”

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A venus flytrap flowers

I’m a fan of plants that grow in bogs. It’s an extreme environment, and some plants that thrive there have interesting adaptations. I even have a small wetland in a barrel by the greenhouse/ carving shop, and inside the house, I have a variety of carnivorous plants that generally like it a bit warmer than we have it most of the year in New England.
I occasionally get blossoms on my carnivorous plants. Being that the plants themselves don’t look like other garden plants, I always thought their flowers would look like caricatures of what other plants had. Instead, they are pretty tepid renderings of what the other plants’ sport. In the case of this little Venus flytrap, there are some pretty ordinary white flowers.

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People Watching: the boat show

My friend sat there sipping his bourbon, looked over at me, and said, “Oh, what stories we could tell!” But, of course, he was referring to some of the things that happened at or that we saw during our years of doing boat shows. Although to be honest, we don’t share the good stuff with potential customers, that would be tantamount to warning them to behave at the show. No fun for us!
Just look at couples. We see the entire range: the young couple shopping for their first little sloop, the older couple looking for something suitable for cruising with the kids, and the older ones looking to downsize and longingly looking at the little sloops that remind them of when they were young and frisky.
I don’t have enough words to describe the frisky ones. From the older couple away from the kids, staying at the hotel with that ” Oh, honey, wait till we get to the room” look in their eyes to the non-matched couples meeting up at the show – she’s into lobster yachts, he’s into traditionally rigged sloops or 22-foot catboats, but they are clearly into each other. Then, at last, there are the older gentlemen who hoped to revive their romantic fortunes with much younger trophy wives. But that deserves an entire post by itself.
Staffing a booth at a show is hard work; you answer questions all day ranging from the inane to the insane to the wise. You tell people where the bathroom is so often that you make up a sign with an arrow indicating the direction. And you pray that one of your friends will show up with lunch soon or relieve you – so you can go to the bathroom. It’s all in a day’s work.
My friend and I have retired from doing the shows, but we do like to go and browse. But mostly, we watch people. After years of observing, we know what to look for. It’s not dull.