Wood and distractions

After a leisurely three week journey around the continent, 250 board feet of Northern White Cedar arrived—mere hours before a foot-and-a-half of snow would have made delivery highly problematic. It is amazingly light, which makes me wonder how strong it might be—the image of the entire side of Emery Kolb's original Edith knocked in at Waltenburg Rapid comes to mind.

I sorted the wood and placed it all up on high racks, out of the way and have been trying to finish up a few last details in the shop before launching into Edith's strongback. I have now completed twenty tool drawers, which has made the clutter factor far more pleasant. I finished trimming out the windows and bench fronts in a festive pumpkin orange, which was totally unnecessary but looks cool and makes me smile.

And I have just overhauled, caulked, and oiled Juan, my little McKenzie boat for a trip on the Lower Colorado above Yuma this weekend with Lora, as well as stripped, repaired, oiled, and leathered a sweet but abused old trio of super-thin, super-light Smoker oars for Juan.

I still expect to see myself procrastinate another day (or two or three) before jumping into the all-consuming Edith. Any bets on how long I can put it off?