Eh, Oak, eh !

Hi Carolyn,




Well, alrighty then, as Ace Ventura would say. Things are pretty up in the air here right now. The delayed kitchen install has just been moved up two weeks because of another cancellation so we are scrambling about a bit. Like all good reno undertakings things have mushroomed almost uncontrollably and there will be five rooms to paint when all the dust finally settles. My LSBH and I have realized that we either have to each grow another set of arms or we should best look into some professional assistance for this, so I’m off the ladder ( and the hook ) for now.






Birthday wishes to pass on before going any further. Eric Clapton is 69 today. He is certainly at my head table of guitar greats. He's also the only musican to be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times - for his work with The Yardbirds, Cream and as a solo musican. I have to also thank him for introducing me to Bob Marley's music by way of his version of  "I Shot the Sheriff ". One last factoid about Eric. His father was a Canadian.

　

　






　

Spent the last couple of days finishing off the hardwood floor installation . I do like oak floors. We have, over the last twenty some years, converted pretty well all of the main floor of our abode to oak plank flooring. Not the clear, uber-expensive and characterless stuff, but the stuff with  all of the grain and color variations that make oak so , so  oakish !  I enjoy installing them. I get to play with air compressors and nailers and big hammers and the like.  But I’d forgotten just how much bending and kneeling and such is involved. My leg muscles, joints and hamstrings are clearly quite put off with me right now.

　

I grew up in a household where woodworking was always part of the mix. My dad built four different 18 to 21 foot wooden sailing boats while I was at home and all of my sailing until I got a boat of my own was in one or the other of them. He inculcated me with a taste for woodworking and woods. I sorta limited my efforts to refinishing furniture rather than actually creating my own. My older brother became far more skilled at pretty well all aspects of the craft. Somehow that same level of skill and feel for wood and woodworking has leapfrogged over to my son as well, I'm more than happy to say.





　

In fact I’d pretty well have to say that oak is my favorite of all hardwoods. It doesn’t have the warmth of mahogany, the burnished beauty of cherry, the unmistakeable elegance of walnut, or the handsome durability of teak. It does have an impressive pedigree, and aroma  all its own, though. What if there had been no oak to build those ships for Columbus, Magellan or Amerigo Vespucci or Henry Hudson ? What if there had been no oak for those churches, forts, and other buildings that housed the infrastructure of a burgeoning North America ?

 

 

 

What if there had been no oak to make the barrels that have held in ages past and continue to hold and age those wonderful wines and whiskies, ravishing rums, beautiful beers and charming champagnes - and don't forget the pickle barrels. 

 Hmmmmm, perhaps a future riddle could be dedicated to this wonderful and ancient device.

I can’t conceive of being surrounded by too much oak, whether in furnishings or flooring or whatever.

 

 

BTW, those shoes you included in your entry for March 9th were almost inconceivably ugly. If you are even remotely a shoe person and happen to be in Toronto sometime in the future, you should check out the Bata Shoe Museum. In fact you should check it out online if you have some idle moments.



 Although, Carolyn, it sounds like you don't have too many of them. Don't stretch yourself too thin, though.



The riddles, like James Bond, will return!



Don

 

All images sourced from Google Images

Fig. 1 - hqwide.com
Fig. 2 - cuteculturechick.com
Fig. 3 - scotiaflooring.ca
Fig. 4 - moesmarineservice.com
Fig. 5 - en.wikipedia.org
Fig. 6 - business2community.com
Fig. 7 - atravelinfos.com