March 2019 – Angry Viking Artisan

For those of you that may not know, the picture on the main page is not me. The bearded, ink laden Viking is my younger brother. Oh, I know what you are thinking, yes I got the looks in the family.

For the last 7 new moons he has come to the shop and removed shavings from the wood to reveal what is within.

He seeks Odin the god of war as I watch for Thor the protector of the common man, the farmer. This in itself makes the shop angry. But somehow through our anger we find a commonality. We both smile when called a heathen. You know the smile, not a funny Ha Ha smile. But one that says those may be the last words you every speak. We may speak poorly of each other but if someone else does the Viking steel will be removed from the leather.

We praise each others work yet dislike our own. Laugh when the other gets hurt yet set each others bones to mend. We are fast to swear at each others ignorance yet even faster to defend against to word of others. We advise and support each others artistic ideas and feel jealousy when one has a better vision.

If I was next in line to be King I would expect him to take action to own my crown yet would be surprised not to find him standing next to me in the shield wall.

As we take what was handed down to us by our parents and add our own chapters to our lineage. I am proud to call him brother and partner.

At this time you all know that I have a lot of nice pieces of wood to work with. That is if anyone is reading my rants. I was able to get a truck load of wood from a big red oak tree that was being cut down. Now my shed is full of wood and I have a 7 foot tall stack of the tree trunk standing in the garage.

Don’t let yourself be fooled. The thirst for free wood is never quenched. As I drive around town I am still looking for any easy grab of wood. Maybe it will be a different type of tree, or maybe it will have nice grain pattern? And I know it is feast or famine. I have turned wood that was to rotten or small branches because they were the only wood I could find. Well, that and I tend to squeeze a penny until Abe screams.

Now that spring is on the way I see trees being trimmed and piles of branches everywhere. But now that the coffers are full I find myself only looking for a big score. Even while driving I don’t have to slow down to take a good look. Everything I see is to small compared to bounty I have at home. Oh, I still think twice. Maybe I should grab that branch? The wood I have won’t last forever. Was the wood I just passed a type I have never worked before? But I am a man and we don’t turn around. To late, already passed it.

So for now I am just a Viking sailing my long boat across the asphalt seas. Looking for the big raid and waiting for the famine.

Month: March 2019

Angry Viking is not Alone

Small Addendum to my F.O.G. Wood post