This morning I was moved to tears ...

[ChrisGreaves]

Some of you have seen my photo-essays on canoeing with my very good friend Fred.
He brought over my Christmas present Thursday, looked like a flag-pole⁽¹⁾. heh heh. Don't open it until Christmas morning.

This morning I opened it.
A beautiful paddle, exactly the right length for me.
Plus a card on which was written "Open Me last".
In the card a link to a web site.

Funny.
One of my presents to Fred this year was a card marked "Open Me last", and in it a link to a web site!

Why do I tell you all this?
Fred it was who showed me a copy of Woody Leonhard's book "The Underground Guide To Word for Windows" back in 1996 which led me to Woody's Lounge, which brought me to Eileen's lounge ...


⁽¹⁾ The present, not Fred.

[HansV]

What a wonderful Christmas present!

[Hey Jude]

What a tribute to YOU!!! I've never heard of anyone crafting their own canoe paddle. Being 74" I can attest to what a glorious treat this would be for you. "Cry me a river...."

[ChrisGreaves]

What a wonderful Christmas present!

Thanks Hans.
It stood, wrapped, in my living-room for two days, looking just like a gift-wrapped paddle.
Turns out the real present was the love, time, and care that went into making it.

Fred is quite a guy.

[ChrisGreaves]

Being 74" I can attest to what a glorious treat this would be for you.

Hey Jude You're right (although I'm not 74"; 64" more like it ...).
As I pointed out in my response to Hans, the real gift is that of thoughtfulness, time, care, love and patience.
The rest is "just" a piece of oiled wood.
And I know that you know that I know that you know what I mean.

[Bowlie]

"Cry me a river...."

Ah, more Diana Krall!

[Hey Jude]

"Cry me a river...."

Ah, more Diana Krall!

you caught me

[Skitterbug]

A friendship like yours and Fred is a wonderful treasure! Cherish it!
Thanks for sharing your experience.

[BobArch2]

Some of you have seen my photo-essays on canoeing with my very good friend Fred.

That oar was made with a labour of love and a better friend than Fred would be hard to find!!!

May the paddle and your friendship with Fred, last many, many years!!!

[ChrisGreaves]

A friendship like yours and Fred is a wonderful treasure!

True, true, but also think of this: Fred introduced me to Woody's Lounge, and just look at all the (virtual?) friends I've gained through these portals.
There's you ... (thinks a bit) and then there's all the others!

[ChrisGreaves]

May the paddle and your friendship with Fred, last many, many years!!!

I have my doubts.
For one thing, how prepared will he be to drive me around until we find a Kawartha Dairy outlet that serves tubs of ice-cream into which I can fit my new wooden spoon?

Also, I don't think anyone realizes how this friendship was dependent on the single piece of wood Fred bought at Rona.
If you go back and read the caption for image 6 you'll see that the "flex test" involved trimming chunks off the ends until the deep cracks were eliminated.
Another six inches off the plank and the paddle would have been way too short for me, and would have gone to someone else; I could well have been dropped from his roster on account of some kiln worker taking an extra two puffs of a smoke before checking on the kiln!

Life is precarious at best ....

[ChrisGreaves]

In the card a link to a web site.

By way of comparison: How Gray-Nicolls bats are made

[VegasNath]

Wonderful! What a great friend!