I sometimes wonder where my interests in
somethings came from, what keyed my brain to ‘like’ certain things. It is not
the same with everyone. I remember my
BIL Johnny telling me, “If you play one round of Golf you will be hooked for
life!”
Well I already knew that was not true for me,
I had played TWICE by that time and definitely was not hooked.
That aside, Paula (paulinescountrytales) is right, cedar holds its
scent for a long time and does conjure up memories. While puzzling over Susie’s
Cedar chest I noticed two antiques. An end table made of white pine and a
walnut night stand. I made them as a teen in 1952. When I took them home from school, I was proud of
them.
I gave them a few minutes
study. Nah, I won’t refinish them, YET!
BUT those WOODEN objects were seeds. In
life, other than my girl and my family, WOOD is my love. I love to feel it,
smell it, carve it, burn it and build with it. It is the one God given natural resource that replenishes itself,
or can be planted to replenish what is used, it is versatile. In reality we
should never run out of wood. In most of the civilized world more trees are
planted than are harvested. And in the
uncivilized world they replenish themselves.
Sherry accuses me of walking thru the lumber department of Lowes or
Home Depot just to smell the wood. She is probably right.
My family once lived close to a cedar chest
factory in the late 1940s. My dog was with me most of the time and we would
watch thru the big open doors as the men cut, planed and formed the cedar. The
smell was wonderful. One of the men told me if Ace slept in cedar he would
never have fleas. He pointed to the shavings pile and said take all you
want. He gave me a ‘toe-sack’ (is that a good word?). From that time on Ace had
cedar in his dog house. Many times when I needed to talk, I got in the dog
house with Ace, the smell was pleasing.
Once I started building, cutting, nailing and
creating, I had found my true love. I worked all day without a break. I hated to
quit and go home. Somethings you get attached to and don't know why. WOOD? I am attached because I LIKE it.
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10 comments:
Wonderful wood post and I can just smell the cedar. When I had two very large dogs I would have liked some cedar shavings for their dog houses. Did it do the trick for the fleas?
I do scoot through the lumber department of Lowes just to smell the wood. Honest I do. Maybe I'll see you there. LOL
I haven't smelled cedar in a while, but you writing about it, I can smell it so clearly in a chest my mom had while we were growing up. I always get inspired to make something when I smell wood (but never do create anything :)
betty
This post brings back memories, Mama had a cedar chest of blond wood that smelled so wonderful when we got to open it. Her white satin wedding gown was in there, albums of old photos and scrapbooks and treasured weddding gifts. Before she became a baby maker my mom had eclectic interests. She was fascinated with the Duke of Windsor who abdicated the throne of England to marry commoner Wallis Warfield Simpson/who may have roots in Indiantown, FL. idk Mom was thrilled to see wall hangings at the Seminole Bed and Breakfast depicting the Duke and his American wife. Lovely photos of them dancing and riding polo ponies etc. [If you're in Flawda it a great destination point, awesome food and it right there on Warfield Blvd,] Mama had a scrapbook of all the newspaper clippings from the time the affair became notorious to their eventual marriage etc.
As always, Jack ~ thanks for another provacative missive ~ love y'all. Glenda
I like the smell of wood too. Im not a wood worker but I remember daddy always gave me pocket knives to play with when I was just as young as 9 years old. I would sit on the porch steps and whittle sticks and acorns. I carved my name in trees and my school pencils. So, I have it in me, though I never made anything of it or got hooked.
From over here
Lisa
This weekend I got to smell a wood fire...definitely a good smell too. Like you I think most of us love the smell of wood, but not all of us can do with it what you do. What a blessing for sure !
I love the smell of cedar and working with wood is a relaxing activity for me.
Yes I believe toe-sack is an actual word.
Grandpa had a shop where he worked with wood. He did a lot of work with cedar. When I blew my nose, the tissue would be stained with the cedar sawdust I had breathed just hanging around. The woodshop was dark and cluttered with all kinds of treasures. It was the most wonderful place.
I love wood, too, but it seems I never really had a good opportunity to work with it.
Oh, Grandpa worked with walnut, too. He made the walnut pulpit that is still used at my home church.
I have a cedar chest and keep things I want to know they are safe from bugs. I love to smell cedar such a sweet smell. Glenda is right it brings back good memories. Also smelling a wood burning fire is a clear smell. It is wonderful to sit by a wood burning fire and watch.
I'm gonna have to look for you and Taryterre while following my nostrils through Lowe's!
You're so fortunate to have a knack for the medium. 'Back in junior high, our 'Shop' teacher had us working with circle saws. My resulting half-moon wall-hanging-shelf-thing should have been tossed in the fireplace. Instead, years later I discovered it buried at the bottom of my mom's cedar chest.
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