Hyperfocus: Work and Play

This week I spent a lot of time working on a whim project: turning a large log into a hose caddy. I hate the plastic box look of most hose caddies and happened to have a large pile of wood rounds that need splitting so I turned to my friend, Crystal, for help. Crystal is great at everything and a solid decade or two ahead of me on woodturning—as well as metal craft. 

Enter the log.

We started off on a sunny afternoon, Crystal with a chainsaw and me with a crowbar, and make a valiant attempt at getting Mr. Log to a reasonable weight to attach to a giant lathe. It didn’t work. The wood was too wet and the crowbar just turned it to mush as I tried to pry up the neat little chunks Crystal had diced. 

So we decided to try fire! Some charcoal, tinder, and a baby blowtorch later we had a start! Unfortunately, there was a small colony of ants hiding in Mr. Log. Long story short, Mr. Log is back and my house and I am slowly but surely burning his insides out. I’m crossing my fingers that I don’t get too many splits or I just may be learning how to resin cast sooner than I’d planned. 

Even if I end up with a huge pile of charcoal and a burned out stump, I am having a delightful time experimenting with new mediums of creativity. 

I also worked quite a bit this week, both in paid and volunteer capacity. Wednesday and Thursday I was at the local elementary school keeping small children alive and heading down the slide rather than up it. The weather was lovely so at least there were no puddles to patrol. 

Friday I started my new job at Camaraderie Cellars, my friend Vicki Corson and her husband Don’s winery. It is very much a side-side gig, but a thoroughly delightful one. I pour wine and make people feel welcome in a beautiful environment. My hyper focus was almost learning about wine because you better believe I turned the employee info packet into flashcards and started binging all the YouTube videos, but I only started on Friday so it was more my hyperfocus of the weekend…

Except that Saturday Violet and I spent all day at the Irrigation festival kickoff helping to run the Fire Safety house. Violet had the difficult role of teaching kids how to call 911 on a landline, while I hung out and crocheted until I was needed to help kids down the safety ladder from the “2^nd story” balcony. It was an eight hour shift with only sporadic busy moments which meant more chit chatting with my fellow CERT friends and enjoying the sunshine. 

I am very blessed to be able to largely choose how I spend my time, and more so that I can be picky about my employment. It’s still important to me to be able support my kiddos needs and interests with my time and talents, as well goof around with fire and chainsaws with my friends. 

I hope you all have a lovely week and stay hydrated. Be thinking about your summer goals!