Have finished with the Art Walk down town so maybe life can get back to normal or at least as normal as it gets. The decoys have been packed and unpacked to be put on display in our home, some on shelves, some on window sills or on the floor. Most of the credit for any display has to go to Pat-she has great skills, especially when is comes to the spatial senses. I was amazed at the people who stopped by and talked duck hunting or about a husband who carved decoys or membership in Ducks Unlimited or to debate steel shot vs lead shot or telling me of seeing a shoveler at a water fowl refuge in New York. It was way too much fun.
I went to church last week to listen to a retiring minister who always has given good inspiring sermons-this one was a tribute to Andy Ronney of TV fame. She talked about the church, which sits at the top of main street in Keene, being moved to make room for the park and circle street and how it was constructed in the late 1700's by donations of lumber. The people building the church would post a list of needs: |
| The Church |
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| Colony House Old Growth Wood |
I also look at the family farm and reflect on the buildings that my dad built-a chicken house that had running water before our house did; the three pen hog houses that he build on skids so that when the sows were having little pigs, the hog houses were close to the house but as the pigs got bigger, he would hook up the tractor and drag the house to the pasture. We painted these buildings 20 years ago for a very special farm wedding but now it is time to repair and paint again. Someone suggested that it would be easier just to set some of them on fire and not wasted the time, especially when we have no pigs or chickens on the farm. But what about the legacy that my dad left on the farm? These buildings were key to the production and profits when we all lived on the farm.
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| Pat's Dad's Cedar Chest |
As we build "things" or when we pass on information that we learned from a father, mother, grandparent, uncle, friend we are leaving a legacy to the next generation. My wife wrote grants that changed small communities in Missouri, saved businesses or improved living conditions for community residents; many people will forget her but her legacy will live on for generations. I have a friend who builds pine pole furniture, started as a hobby but has become a business that people return to buy another piece-a legacy. Or the woman in central Missouri who recycles old barns into furniture but takes a picture of the barn, creates a pewter medallion with a picture of the barn, attaches the medallion to the furniture and preserves the barn for ever-a legacy. We all have choices that we make and I think as we get older we become more aware of the consequences of some of our choices. As we learn more we start to think about adapting to make our choices more effective. I have watched mom quilt for the time she has lived with us and how she has changed the techniques she used to complete her quilts, but the results, although slower, is still just as good if not better.
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| Mom's Quilt |
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| Mom at the Conway Train Station |
I didn't start making decoys because I wanted to leave a legacy but as I have arrived in New Hampshire, retired and had some time to do research on pieces of furniture or decoys or shorebirds I find a need to preserve the legacy of those hunters or furniture makers who went before me. As we get older I think that we often reflect back on "did we make a difference" moments and can say, "yep I made a difference" because we did, whether we intended to or not, we did make a difference. So now I hope that 100 years from now that one of the descendants from the Kiley or Thomas families picks up a santa, a shorebird, a leaf or a decoy and say, "this is cool and I am glad that Pop pop made these".
As always be sure "to measure twice and cut once" or if you are waist deep in trout water some place "keep a tight line".
Plus for all those dads out there-Happy Father's Day!
Papa Richter
