A Bit of History

Last night I introduced Fred and he was quickly adopted by my twitter friend @eXapath. He builds stuff too and runs http://www.homepathproducts.com/homepath/index.php. When I told Fred who had adopted him, he was thrilled.

I woke up at about 4:30 am and since it would be a while before the post office would open, I decided to give the shop a good cleaning. All my tools got a good wiping off. Everyone in the shop was very chatty and the atmosphere was a delight. When it was done, I felt really good having a clean workspace again. I immediately started messing it up with some practice hand plane work. Then I cleaned up that mess.

With the cleaning done, I decided to apply some tung oil to a few more boxes. It isn’t scary anymore. This makes me happy and I am looking forward to trying out other types of finishing.

After a bit of breakfast it was time to get Fred ready for his journey to Connecticut. Fred was made comfortable in the box with a bunch of bubble wrap and some bubble pillows. I carefully taped the box up, made a lable, and then everyone said goodbye to Fred. Some of the boxes were still drying, but all the others gathered around Freds box and wished him well. Ginger was a little bit sad to see him go, but she was happy for him. Edward said a few words and everyone was inspired.

Then Fred and I went off to the Martelle post office and got his journey started.

When I got home, the boxes were still hanging out, and the gaping hole in the middle of their congregation made me a little sad. Alice, a very bright little maple and padauk box, notice my expression.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Oh nothing, It is just strange not seeing Fred hanging out with all of you. I will miss talking with him.”

“Well we can give you messages and pass along anything you wish to say to him.” she said with a smile.

All the boxes stopped talking and were looking at me. I imagine my expression was either blank or confused, because Alice then explained. “We only talk to you, because you can’t hear what we are thinking. All of us can share our thoughts and conversations, with each other, without being in the same room.”

Edward added, “It is sort of like being psychic, though not really. It is just the way we are, because we come from trees. Alice can explain it better than me.”

Alice had a bit of blush to her when she said, “Yes, Edward is correct. It dates back to the earliest crafts made from wood. Most people don’t realize that trees have an incredible ability to chat with one another. Their roots, digging deep into the earth, are almost like the internet. They pass messages to one another and then the messages gets spread to all the trees. Thousands of years ago, they could only communicate with the trees which were in the same forest. Then as they evolved they became stronger and leaned how to communicate all over the planet. Trees are exceptional real talkers.”

“That is incredible and really cool”, I said, feeling much better.

“We are not as all reaching as the trees, but once one of us meets another box, or anything made from wood, then we can always talk to each other. In fact, Fred just said to let you know he is doing fine. He is going to take a nap.”

“Tell Fred that I think napping on a long journey is a great idea. Also, could you tell him to let me know when he arrives at his new home.”

“Done”, Alice said with a smile.

I felt much better and all the boxes were in a great mood. We had some donuts.

While we were snacking I asked if anyone else wanted to be put up for adoption. Alice immediately volunteered. She is very smart, loves history, books and chess. She isn’t very good at holding an egg. It just doesn’t quite fit. Alice is made of hard maple and padauk. She is quite lovely and would be a faithful and loyal tiny box. If you would like to adopt her, and you promise to love her hand, you may find her at my Etsy Store. http://www.etsy.com/listing/55310422/alice-the-tiny-box