Down the Rabbit Hole
A couple of years ago, I purchased an Olympus mirrorless camera as a way of upping my photography game. I had been using a variety of super zoom and point-and-shoot cameras, and wanted to gain the advantage of interchangeable lenses. The micro four-thirds (often called “m43”) platform seemed like a great way to have access to a wide variety of lenses from at least two manufacturers: Olympus and Panasonic.
We live on a wooded acreage here at Roy Creek Ranch, and I’ve always imagined using some of that wood to produce furniture. Consisting mainly of Texas Live Oak and Ashe Juniper (“cedar”), some of the trees are substantial, and might produce some usable lumber. I prune the Live Oaks regularly, and have worn out several chain saws trimming back the “cedar”, so a ready stock of wood is always available.
At least a dozen years ago, I helped my Dad and his wife clear out their home in Colorado in preparation for a move to a smaller home in Southern California. They had been there about 10 years, and had a lifetime of accumulation that included some things from my Dad’s childhood home in Fontenelle, Nebraska. There were tools I remembered from visiting the family farm that had belonged to Gramps, and others my Dad had collected over the years, I was very pleased when I learned that many of them would be going home with me.
In the course of working on some friends’ Tiny House, we learned that the non-standard nature of it had a big effect on cost. For instance, the Tiny House required a front door that measured 78 inches by 27 inches — very non-standard. We could find one manufacturer that would supply a door that size, only it cost $1400. Not very practical. So, we decided to design and build our own door.
I’ve always had an interest in George Gershwin. A friend who knows this got me The Gershwins (copyright 1973) by Robert Kimball and Alfred Simon for Christmas, and I’ve been enjoying it. I read it when researching my thesis 40 years ago, and had forgotten how interesting it is. He must have found it in a used book store, because I’m sure it’s been out of print for some time. What a treat!