Working with Wood

Lefty, I met you. And you definitely not forgettable. Cheers! B)

MikeH,

Like you once I am gone makes no difference. In the movie Jeremiah Johnson the mountain man that kept his head shaved at the changed and grew his hair. He said that he wanted to leave something behind to be remembered by. If only a scalp on some Indians lodge pole.

I would like to leave this world putting a craftsman to work, instead of being put into something that comes off the assembly line. I dread the thought of leaving this world being just another face in the crowd. So I make choices that insure that will not happen.

I would like to believe that once you meet me you will not confuse me with someone else. I am not to concerned with you liking me just respecting me.

I would like to stand apart right up to the end plus some.

Great story twill. Makes me ponder a bit. I never much cared what they put me in, where,.... a hole on the hill, next to my dogs, no coffin necessary, would be fine with me. Once I'm gone, I don't reckon I got much need for this body I've abused so bad. I guess I see these kind of things are more for those we leave behind than for us. That's my take anyway. Glad the guy made a friend in the process. That's what really matters.

These are the types of stories I prefer to read egg: true, Human Interest stories, if one must categorize

Egg, I like his work. He has quite a few paintings available.

Having my coffin custom made is on my list of things to do. After reading his story, it is a must do. Finding a cemetery plot is not the easiest thing to do. I want a plot that is in the shade. I do not want to be put to rest out in the open under the sun.

I guess this piece is maybe, how do they say...too hot to handle? I find it extraordinarily beautiful, so I have to respond.

I had a friend and mentor who did something very much like this once. He died twenty years ago at 64. Wonderful man. Time flies. I was still young then and now I'm already two years older than he was when he died. He was a well-known and well-loved artist and he allocated each of his colleagues a small space to paint something on. Whatever else they created in their lives, I'm sure they will always remember what it was they painted on his coffin and I'm sure they will always carry him with them in their hearts and minds. I'm not a painter and didn't merit one of the spaces, not being among the closest circle, but he asked me to contribute something so I gave him two of my hand-made oboe reeds to be cremated along with the rest. I know I'll never forget.

http://www.williammorehouse.com/Index.html

For anyone who might be thinking this man might be a little bit California liberal artist woo-woo, he was a Marine combat sergeant-major in the Korean War and had piloted barges on the Sacramento River in his youth.