glimpsesbymelanie

I bet you are wondering why I titled this ‘torn’.  If you should look at my photography a lot of it is nature, especially trees.  I love trees!  I love them in the spring when they are beginning to leaf out, except evergreen, they don’t lose their needles, and the flowering trees.  I love them in the summer when they are fully leafed providing shade on a hot day.  I really love them in the fall when they have changed their colors and show off brilliantly.  I even love them in the winter after their leaves have left them and they stand there bare naked.  I have photographs of a single bare tree standing alone on a hill with the sun going down behind it.

Thus comes my title.  I am torn because I love working with wood.  I have a woodworking shop and my greatest peace, as well as, my greatest frustration is in there.  My favorite tool is the lathe.  I didn’t begin until I was older and I don’t do real fancy things.  I have made bottle stoppers, candle holders, vases, and lamps.  One of these days I will brave it and make a bowl.  Some of the larger things I have made, not on the lathe, are stools, sofa tables, bedside tables, bookcases, and lecterns for church.

It saddens me that trees have to be cut down and made into lumber in order for me to do my woodwork.  I live out in the country and sometimes hear chain saws in the distance  and it feels like they are cutting into my heart.  I published a book for young children titled “The Wise Old Oak Tree.”  It is a teaching book to let them see the similarities between us and trees.  There is a section in it about logging.  It is told from the trees perspective.

I will post photos of my work at times.  Mostly I will use my photos of nature, travel or around my farm to dress up my words.  It is overcast today but, don’t let that get you down.  With your thoughts you can have sunshine anytime all the time.  Remember: Plan your day, live your plan.  Melanie