How Big are You

   I remember back when the kids were infants.    Infants that could barely sit in a high chair.    There was always this bonding ritual that would occur after the evening meal.    The one where you would look your little son in the eyes and retract the adult tone out of your voice and in a sound that even you did not recognize, you would giggle out  "How big are you?"    Then without hardly waiting, you would reach over and grab the little hands and jerk them to the ceiling and holler  "Sooooooo Big!"    I would keep working on that until finally I would ask the question and the hands would automatically fly in the air.    When that happened, I couldn't wait until friends or family showed up at our house.   Then I could show our little performance for them to be ahh struck.    

   Shawn and Vanessa have their own little ritual where on certain occasions they would have their children stand by the door trim and Vanessa would make a mark on the trim to show how much they had grown and at what stage in life that measurement had occurred. .    (I guess this was something that Pam and I never got around to doing.   In no time, it seemed like we went from "How big are you" to "Dad, can I have the car keys tonight?")     In the process of tearing down their old home, the door trim, with all the historical markings on it, was saved.    It was not in good shape.  Vanessa asked if I would take home a couple of the old siding boards and clean them up a little so the she could transfer the information to that board and hang it on a wall in the new house.   It would be bigger than the door trim which would give her the opportunity to write a few notes or add a picture here and there.    Something that was from the old house, but something where additional info could be added.    

    These were boards that were under the siding of the old house.    Also they were some of the original boards used to build the house over one hundred years ago.     I had to clean off the old insulation and pull out the nails.   (Lots and lots of nails.)   I had done this process before when building a bench.   This time I was very careful to make sure I pulled all the nails before running these boards through the planer.    I don't know if it was luck or a little more focus, but this time I did not hit any metal while working on this project.  (In another five years I will have this down.)     Vanessa requested not to finish the boards.   I think she wants them looking old and nailed to death and that is how they turned out.

      I glued the two boards into one.    Even though I was asked to not finish this board, I did rub some oil on the areas where either the planer or the saw left some bare spots.    That seemed to unify the appearance so everything looked old.     I used my wood burner and made inch markings and tried to number each foot.  I feel bad that I do not have that artistic hand.    (Oh well.   Maybe in another five years.)    There is not a lot invested in this project so if it is not what Vanessa had in mind,  it can always be used as door trim on the barn or somewhere.

     Okay.   Let's see how big you are.   "HOW BIG ARE YOU".    Oh boy.   Now this is where you are suppose to sit on your hunches and throw your paws in the air while I holler "SO BIG".    

   Pretend like that elusive fly just buzzed over your head and you have that urge to jump up.    Oh man. We have a lot of work ahead of us.