Saturday 25 February 2012

Generosity


A simple word. The act of giving, without really expecting anything in return. It's a simple concept too, but not altogether common today. But today I was treated to a big helping of it and I have to say that being on the receiving end, it was a pleasant and humbling experience.

A while back I met Tim while demonstrating Windsor Chair making techniques over the course of a weekend. Then just recently he came to spend an evening with Pete Galbert and 50 or so others watching Pete describe and demonstrate his amazing chair making techniques. In fact Tim also had the foresight to commission Pete to make him a 'Perch' from Fijian Mahogany while he was here.

So when Tim emailed me last week asking if I would like a volunteer to help me with my renovations at the cottage, well I was a bit taken aback. Of course I said yes, then went through in my head what I thought were a list of things that may be of interest to someone offering some help. Tim promptly emailed back, pretty much just saying that he'd be happy to help with whatever needed to be done.

And so today he did. I shot down to the hardware store yesterday and bought a ute full of sleepers and cypress posts and today we put it all together in the form of a 2 level wood rack at the back of the new workshop. Nothing flimsy here, with 200 x 50 ( 8"x2" ) sleepers every 400mm (16") it should support all the wood I can fit in it, without a problem.

Next week I'll take a trip down the farm and pick up a pile of Stone Pine ( Pinus Pinea ) that I milled up about a year back. That will see out the roof of the rack, with a few sheets of iron on top.

Hot and dusty work, with the temp hitting 35c (95F) in the shade, but we broke the back of it and had a good chat about all things wood, chairs, growing up on the farm and a few things in between! We've even tee'd up a impromptu chair-making class in the very near future, where hopefully I can re-pay the favour.

It was a real pleasure to have Tim here and reaffirms that despite the ups and downs of life,
there are still some truly decent and generous people out there. Thanks Tim!

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