The Thursday Ramble: Small Town Craftsmen I Once Knew

My grandfather's grew up farming with horses and mules. My mother's father farmed that way into the 1940's, and only reluctantly started using mechanical tractors. Horses as transportation disappeared from rural America in the 1920's into the 1930's. 100 years ago. 

When I was growing up in Michigan in the 1960's there were still remnants of horse drawn transportation around the area. Most barns or garages had remnants of collars and harnesses. The town livery stable, where horses visiting town would have been boarded and cared for was still there, a large barn painted a light green. Horses were bought and sold there probably into World War II. By my time the horses were but a memory, but the building stood for another few decades.

The part of the business that remained was the blacksmith shop. While the primary business was no longer shoeing horses, if you trailered them into town the craftsmen who worked where glad to do so, it was primarily as a place to have iron tools made or repaired. Ancient plows that cracked, would be repaired by experienced and expert hands. The coal fired forge was kept hot and working for decades beyond the horse days. They could make just about anything out of metal, replacements for one of a kind barn door hinges, or rollers for sliding barn doors were something they made every week. I remember going there a few times with my father or grandfather, with something from around the farm that needed repair. A garden tool, a mower blade that had hit a rock and was in need to straightening and sharpening. If you needed it now, they would stop what they were doing and attend to it, if not it would be ready sometime later tomorrow, and the cost would be next to nothing.  Even then you wondered how they made a living. And it is possible that, they didn't, that they did it because it was what they did. 

Around the corner from there, was Mr. Baldwin's leather repair shop. He was a master saddler, for the first half of his adult life he made and repaired harness and saddles. For the second half of his life, well on into his 8th decade, he repaired shoes. He stocked and sold work boots, but repairing shoes was the day to day way he kept himself busy. As an elementary school student I would walk to his shop during lunch, and he would do a minor repair and charge less than a dollar.  Even then I would say, are you sure that is all?  He was sure. It wasn't about making money, it was about being of service and practicing the craft that he learned as a teenager. He worked until the day his shop fell down. A delivery driver backed into the side of it, and literally the building collapsed around him. Luckily no one was hurt, but the building was shattered. His family convinced him to retire. A sad end to a long chapter in the life of a small town. He was the grandfather of one my high school friends.  

My World of Wonders: April 8th edition 2026

 

Where have I been this week? Mt Vernon for a nice spring walk, the updated museum exhibit is partially open.  The grocery store and Trader Joe's. The gym, the pool, the community center. The farmers market on King Street. Into DC for a nice walk, I walked to the subway station, took the train into the city, wandered through the National Gallery of Art, across the Mall to the subway, and home. A long walk with a stop at the Post Office to buy stamps before the price goes up this summer to 97-cents. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Pork chops cooked in cheesy scalloped potatoes. Pizza  - a couple of varieties. Meatloaf, broccoli and cornbread.  Roast beef and potato salad - a strange combination but it is what I felt like making. Roast chicken and veggies.

Who have a talked with? Oh my, Tom, Cathy, Jeffery, Warren, Mrs. Warren, Paul, Michelle, Jon, Ruth, Anna, Susan, Rafael, Mathew, Marcell, Victoria, Renne, Mike, Pastry Boy, David, Giuseppe. 

What have I been thinking about? Life is short, live it while you can. 

What is on the easel? A portrait of George Washington. The theme for our June-July show is Americana. I have challenged myself to create something new and different.  

Travel Tuesday: Spin the wheel, where do we land this week? Glasgow.

 So many wonderful memories of places we have been. Looking back the photos takes me back to the place and time. 

Moody Monday: Be Kind

I strive to be kind. 

My English Grandmother instilled in me, that if I didn't have anything nice to say, to not say anything. 

My favorite You Tubers are increasingly being bothered by unpleasant comments. Foxes afloat last week said "please don't post any comments that start with "you must" or "you have to" or "you should have." Glen of Glen and Friends Cooking tries to head off nasty comments, I love his cooking style, I can't imagine why anyone would be critical or nasty. 

I enjoy reading and responding to most comments.  I leave comments on many of the blogs that I read, some I leave comments on almost everyday. Occasionally I read a post, and I just can't think of anything nice to say. Sometimes my first thought for a comment is critical or unkind. I stop myself. I sometimes delete what I have started to type as a comment. I try - sometimes really hard - to come up with something positive or reinforcing to say. At times, and it may be because of my mood at the moment, I just can't think of anything. If I can't be kind, I skip commenting that day.  I wish I could say something nice, but if I can't think of anything nice to say, I remain silent. 

I also realize that despite the fact that my posts and comments are nearly all in English, humor often gets lost in cultural translation. Attempts at humor risk being rude in other English speaking countries.  In my mode of being kind, I often avoid attempts at humor across cultures in the same language. 

Be kind. 

Be careful. 

Follow grandma's advice. 

The Sunday Five:

1: When you travel, where do you prefer to stay? 

2: Do you have a "go-to" hotel brand or group? 

3: What is the nicest hotel you have ever stayed? 

4: Have you ever traveled in a recreational vehicle? 

5: Would you spend the night in one of these tents? 

My answers: 

1: When you travel, where do you prefer to stay?  Hotels, even when I visit family I almost always stay in a nearby hotel. 

2: Do you have a "go-to" hotel brand or group? Hilton and their other brands. A second choice is Holiday Inn. 

3: What is the nicest hotel you have ever stayed? The Langham Hotel in Chicago, the conference arranged and paid the bill. 

4: Have you ever traveled in a recreational vehicle?  Only once, my parents owned a motor home for a few years - I went to Key West with them on long weekend. 

5: Would you spend the night in one of these tents? No, I don't sleep outside on the ground. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Interpreting the Story is Up to the Viewer

The experts are always urging us to tell a story with our art. I think back to my language arts course my first year of high school, in sending a message there is the sender creating and encoding the message, transmitting the message, and the receiver decoding the message. The same message may have different meanings to different decoders. 

The painting above, to the gentleman's family, is a family portrait, an older man with his grandson (yes - grandson.) In the family home, it is a reminder of loved one's. Moved to the man's office, it sends a message of a devoted and happy family man, the kind of man you could trust. A connection between the generations of a family business. 

To those who know the rest of the story, the grandson was added to the painting four years after the portrait of his grandfather, after the death of the grandfather. These two people would have never been alive at the same time. A connection between generations, created in the mind of the artist. 

And yes, it is a grandson.  Babies and young children wearing diapers, were dressed in androgynous gowns until the early to mid 1900's. My father was born in 1927, and the earliest photos of him, were in gowns. The baby photos of my great uncles were all dressed this way. It was very practical way to dress a baby.  

Funky Friday: Playing with Dolls

 

Part of the work of the arts council is curating exhibits in a glass showcase in the community center. It is a place for 3-D art. We change it out every 6 weeks or so. The current theme is mixed-media and recycled materials. The next show is Dolls as Art. Believe it or not we have a committee to decide on themes and it took 2 or 3 meetings over the course a month to come up with them. 

When I first thought about this, I figured the childhood, now atique Barbie dolls and maybe a Ken doll would show up. I doubt there are any GI Joes left among the residents (and Militaria is the theme later in the year.) 

Then I thought about Richard. I may be the only person who has held onto a Richard Nixon action figure.  A gift from my Sweet Bear. I have had him for years. I pulled him from my cabinet of curiosities, dusted him off, and he was the first item to be loaned for the next showcase. If I took his trousers off, and changed his batteries, he talks. "I Am Not A Crook!" And yes, I have taken his trousers off a couple of times. It is kind of creepy.  

I mentioned this entry for the next showcase at last Saturday's show opening, to a round of laughter. A good response, we want them laughing and thinking creatively. 

So the answer to my April Fools Day conundrum, is I was never able to wrangle an invitation to the White House for a bill signing. My dearly departed colleague Lori was invited when President Obama signed the Elder Justice Act, she declined saying that she didn't want to be bothered, when asked if anyone from our office could attend, she said she "didn't think anyone would be interested." By the time I expressed my interest, it was too late to add names to the guest list. That is the closest I ever came. I could have strangled Lori, but I didn't.