So I'm at school again.

So I'm at school again, as some of you will have guessed from the title. As you may also have guessed, this is Kevin writing, not Adele (in the future, italics means I'm writing). What you may not have guessed is that I'm wearing flannel right now. Actually, you probably guessed that too. Speaking of which, I pretty much love my school because at any given time, fully three quarters of the student body is wearing plaid.
So last quarter was my first spent in the boat shop, after having an introductory quarter of basic wood working instruction. First quarter boat students take "Lofting," the process by which scaled boat plans are drawn out full size, typically in the loft over the workshop, hence the name. However, I think we only spent a week and a half lofting, the rest was spent on various projects, like the one you see above. The second loft we did (there were two altogether, a seven foot dinghy and a 21 foot sloop) was actually lofted at 1/3 the size so it would fit on our tables, and then we built a forward deck section from that drawing, complete with deck beams, stringers, covering boards, and decking (port side running straight, bow to stern, starboard curved, along the sheer line. This bit was wretched. Steam bending wood is NOT a fun thing to do). This project took up half the time we spent in the loft.
Being in the wooden boat shop was a good experience. For one thing, every day at school, you look out over almost a dozen beautiful boats, all being slowly worked on. Some have been there twenty years. The interesting projects get finished up quick, but this one boat the "Eel," is just a pain to work on, so only the ambitious go near it. Apparently the fellow working on it this quarter is determined to finish it. Having the boats so close to peruse at you leisure teaches you a lot that you wouldn't really pick up elsewhere; about beauty in design, fairness, the importance of an elegant sheerline, even how the choice of wood affects the craft itself, both aesthetically and structurally. Every Monday we have "walk around," where we "walk around" and look at the boats being worked on, and whomever is doing the work talks about what they've been doing, the techniques they've used, and what's been particularly instructive and/or frustrating. The two often go arm in arm.

To the left you'll see two canoes hung up on some shelves. These are the boats are I hope to work on when I get to the wooden boat shop. Mostly the top one, but really either would be fine. I just think the top one would be easier to finish in the time given.
I am currently in the fiberglass boat shop, building a small flat bottom rowboat. I thought I wouldn't like fiberglass at all. But really it's not so bad. I hope I never have to work with it again, but I think I'll be able to get through two quarters of it. I've only had one week so far, but it's been good. Gordon, the instructor, is a good teacher. He's been doing it for 18 years, and before that he was working on the shores of Lake Washington. He still does in the summers.
I think that's all, as far as school is concerned, and there are more pictures of the boat shop below. But now a word about work. I work at the Pike Place Market, selling fruit and chili ristras (Colorful garlands of chili peppers. In Santa Fe, which is apparently famous for them, they only ever have red ones. In Washington, we grow all kinds of chilies and all kinds of colors, and put them together into delicious works of art. Evidently our chili fields are the best kept secret Washington has.). I work on Friday and Saturday, since I'm at school Monday through Thursday, from eight to six. This used to be seven to six, but the winter changed things. For those of you still reading, I'm really sorry this is so long, but I promise there are people who are legitimately interested. It's a pretty good job, the Market is one of the chillest places I know, work is steady and pays well enough. The people are great, both from work or other stand and shops, and they all give you a discount, so shopping is a breeze. Between taking home free produce from work and knowing everyone else, we get really good groceries for significantly less, the whole time supporting local business. YES! That's about it though, work isn't really what I'd call interesting; a trained monkey could do it. Actually, that would probably bring in more customers. I'm kind of surprised we haven't yet. That's the update so far, I'll write soon on what's going on churchwise, but most people ask about school and work before church, so I figured I'd write in this order. Toodles.












































These pictures are all of the market when it snowed (which was one of the most marvelous things you could imagine, next time it snows, you're all coming down, right?) or the boat shop. I reckon you can figure out which is which.