Author: Geo Davis
-
Illumination Tweak
Brandon wrapped up the icehouse interior lighting early last summer. I was thrilled. Much planning. Much micromanagement. Much collaboration with Brandon who helped devise (and implement) some creative lighting solutions for this unique environment. But I immediately noticed a problem in need of an illumination tweak. To be precise the tweak was to resolve an…
-
Poetics of Planing
As Tony concludes his transformation of our homegrown cedar into finish grade planks for the privacy fence enclosure I pause to ponder the poetics of planing. Almost 3-1/2 months ago, the notion appeared as part of a poem. Come and chant with me,a poetics of planing —unroughing, smoothingtruing, straightening —for patient makersalchemizing plants in-to ingredients…
-
Lakeside Staircase: Recon
After several years of delays — from false start to postponement to more false starts — Glen and Tony have resuscitated Rosslyn’s lakeside staircase repairs. Today I’ll catch you up on their preliminary “deep dive” (don’t worry, I’m speaking figuratively since Lake Champlain water temperatures are presently inhospitable at best.) We started out by assessing…
-
Pickets & Kindling
While Glen has been enjoying some much deserved R&R, Tony has been finalizing preparations for the privacy enclosure behind the carriage barn. Woodworking, especially repurposing rough or recycled material into finish grade lumber, has proven to be a well matched and rewarding undertaking for Tony over the last year and a half. Again and again…
-
Sacred Exchanges
I awoke this morning thinking about Danusha Laméris’s poem, “Small Kindnesses”, and Rosslyn. Two discrete points of reference mingling, as if in conversation. Two planets passing, briefly eclipsing, a gravitational closeness, a tender but fleeting affinity, an ephemeral communion. The echo of a question in Laméris’s lines lingers. Like a hint, a glimmer of affirmation.…
-
Perfect Imperfection
Tonight’s update captures a typical exchange within the team, this one between Tony, Pam, and me pertaining to the cedar board in the photo below. How do we approach a board with so much character? — Tony Foster Great question, right? Tony has been transforming rough cut cedar into properly finished and dimensioned pickets for…
-
Sometimes Snow
Such a privilege spending time in the snow, in the mountains, skiing with my bride and my nephews. Sometimes snow is a gentle reminder to venture outdoors with people who make us feel alive. Sometimes snow challenges plans,bumps logistics,and fiddle bowsanxietiesinto brokenshards of glass.Sometimes snowfalls thick and fastin the steep woodsday after daygentling rocksand fallen…
-
So Long, Storage Container
Sometimes small matters matter most. Like warm socks when skiing in fluffy February powder. (Fresh back from an amazing afternoon in the trees!) Or a storage container magically materializing when needed and then evanescing when it becomes and obsolete eyesore. A couple of weeks ago this vital construction resource was removed its garden-side perch after…
-
Creator & Creation
Consider today’s post a sort of prolegomenon. Or a prologue to a prolegomenon. Consider this a 1st installment on a discursive inquiry inspired by a quotation from Haruki Murakami’s Novelist As a Vocation (gifted to me by my sister). What are we creating when we create, when we write, when we tell a story, when…
-
Tree-to-Timber
As we prepare to fabricate the privacy enclosure behind the carriage barn, the constituent parts are starting to fall into place. One of the most important is the material that we’re using for the pickets. Yet another tree-to-timber project, all of the cedar slats/boards that will comprise the fence pickets grew less than 150’ from…
-
Creative Crop Rotation
In high school I listened to a lot of Joni Mitchell. It’s safe to say that I was a bit of an outlier when it came to my eclectic music tastes. New England boarding school in the late 1980s, all boys scholar-athlete paradigm, etc. I tried to infect my friends with an appreciation for Joni’s…
-
Eighteen Months
I’m almost 100% certain I’ve never used the term “humble brag”, but today I’m going to try it on for size. Although I’m not usually a buzzword kind of guy, today marks several concurrent benchmarks. I’m feeling bold! As of yesterday I’ve wrapped up dry January for the 12th year in a row. Yesterday also…