Arriving.....

..... I took a major break from just about everything today and spent the largest part of the afternoon in the garage with a block of wood and one of my Father's old pocket knives........ and so far, the jury is still out..... my carving abilities are slow on the turn-out, it appears, but I am forever optimistic - just as I always am in most endeavors........

.... the truly funny thing is that I tried ALL of the little tools in the kit that I bought..... and while I could hold them, see their purpose, and test the wood with them, they all felt foreign in a way that is hard to explain...... I tried and tried, but they just didn't feel right in my hand - or as they met the wood.......

..... after two hours of scraping, I opted for the scalpel-type tool...... this lasted for another hour before I finally gave up....

... I wandered inside, found a History Channel program about Henry VIII, and was quite content for a while....... but as the clock ticked forward and it approached the Gin & Tonic Hour, I remembered my Father....... and a quick walk out to the gun safe saw me happy with an Old Timer whittler in my sweaty little hands.......

.... today I sat for five hours caressing my little block of wood with the small blade of that Old Timer, and it worked as advertised, folks.......

...... perhaps I didn't need the tools after all........ all I really needed was a piece of blank canvas and a tool that I had owned all along.....

.... strange how that works out, eh?....... sometimes what you need is sitting right in front of you the entire time.......... and all that we have to do is open our eyes and grasp the tools that we need......

.... but hey...... it's not the destination that is most gratifying, is it?..... it's the journey........ or at least that is the way that I look at it......... like Townes said in his famous work "To Live is To Fly"..... where you've been is good and gone, all you keep is the gettin' there........

.... and tomorrow, I will carve again with Dad's old knife.......

..... and with that, I'm off, children....... y'all have a good night.......