I once read in a textbook on wood that ?Mankind owes no greater debt than he does to wood.? If for nothing else, then for fire. Yet, we refer to a stone age, a bronze age, even a steam age, yet not a wood age? Were it not for the spear, later the bow and arow, would we still be using a stick to probe termite colonies, as our chimpanzee friends?

Were it not for wood?s uncanny ability to become, with a little help, paper, what good then Gutenberg? Without whom, there is certainly no internet. Indeed, the very air we breathe is given to us by the trees, and the water that moves through everything that lives, will pass through a tree, up through the root and out through the leaves? stomata.

As you plane and saw, sand and scrape, remember this my fellow whisperers. Those boards in your hands, likely lived longer than you have, or ever will. As they lay drying, the moisture content you seek to eradicate may have once flown through the Euphrates. Those piles of dust, which you will sweep up and toss, will join the scraps of your turkey sandwich in the landfill, becoming soil in which a new tree will root. It may well give place for your great grandson?s hammock, later to fall on his roof in a hurricane.

We may never, in all our doweling and dovetailing, give rise to anything nearly as beautiful as the precise engineering of the mighty xylem and phloem. Our silly paper towel holders and cutting boards, entertainment centers and porch swings may seem but paltry daydreams compared to the mighty Sequoia that lived several hundred years before the Magna Carta. Yet know this, as you keep your chisels honed, and pare away the slight layers of history, as you arrange those growth rings into a more stable pattern for your table top, square your shoulders and flush your cheeks, plunge your tenons into gluey mortises and clamp your jaws tight: it is as worthwhile as anything else that can be done. For kings need thrones, ships need rudders, and martyrs need a cross to bear.

Well today, Nicole finally got her wish as we headed to Olive Garden for lunch. The meal was everything I thought it would be: one-dimensional and heavy on the oil. But as we were eating, I noticed that the trim on the walls was nothing more than construction grade douglas fir. Upon further inspection I could see oodles of nail holes and even the tell-tale ridge that develops when your round-over bit is set too low. Nicole laughed at me as I pointed out the lack of care and attention given to the finer details. Douglas fir or not, the wood deserved a better fate than that! Now don’t get me wrong. I realize that this is a commercial chain restaurant. I am just illustrating a point. Just as refined taste buds and an appreciation of quality ingredients helped me realize where Olive Garden stands in the world of food, an ever-increasing knowledge of quality wood and refined techniques allows me to discern the difference between good woodwork and bad. Believe it or not, it wasn’t long ago that I would walk through IKEA wishing I could build some of the cool modern furniture I saw there. Today, needless to say, I see things with a different pair of eyes.

So this brings up a thought-invoking question. Does enlightenment bring with it responsibility and obligation? That is, making sure your projects live up to the standards you are aware of and are capable of. As a lover of great food, should I kick and scream as Nicole drags me by my ear into the Olive Garden? Or should I shut up and just eat my oily pasta dish? As you progress as a woodworker and learn more about creating quality work, do you feel guilty if you stop short? Do you ever say “good enough”, even though you know you could do better? I am curious to hear where you draw that line.

I’ll go first. I definitely feel a sense of guilt if I don’t do something to the absolute best of my abilities. But there are times, as a business, that I must come up with cost saving solutions that frequently mean lowering my standards. When making my own personal pieces, however, I really do try to make everything as good as it can possibly be given the tools/materials on hand and my current skill set.

And just an FYI, after years of taking Nicole to what I consider “good” Italian restaurants, she walked out of the Olive Garden slightly disappointed today. For some reason, she just remembered it tasting better. Haha! My evil plan is working!

And by the way, most of the interviews were significantly longer than what appeared in the video. If there is any interest, I would be more than happy to release the full interviews at a later date. Just let me know.