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Friday’s Weekend Column
This is Florida by James Glaser
What I should have written is, this is why people come to Florida. What I am talking about is the weather. The high humidity is gone. This weekend we are looking at highs in the low 80's and lows in the high 50's. With the blue, blue skies, that is about as nice of weather as you can have, and now we are looking forward to months of weather like this. I remember writing last spring about how the eight months before that were filled with nice days. No doubt Florida has a hot summer, and the humidity can be a killer, but when you think back to Minnesota winters and the mosquitoes in summer, Florida wins hands down. Oh, I do remember some perfect fall days up North, and springtime can be lovely, but we are talking about a couple of two week stretches. Down here in Tallahassee you can have wonderful weather day after day, week after week and month after month. Some people even get sick of the nice weather and start looking forward to a storm to break up the day in and day out of niceness. Some people are never satisfied. My shop is working out just like I planned it. . . and that doesn't happen all that often. I open up the back overhead door and turn on the 42 inch fan. I have the windows open in the front gallery section and all the saw and sanding dust I make in the back is blown out, and fresh air is sucked in through the front, keeping everything in the gallery dust free. I have to smile when I think of that, even chuckle a bit. Like I said, not every plan works out as well as this one did. This Friday is First Friday, and all the studios will be open at Railroad Square where my studio is located. Last month they say that 1,850 people came to look and shop at all the galleries and studios. There are bands playing, arts and crafts demonstrations, free face paintings for the kids, and here in the Bible Belt, free Tarot card readings. Yeah, I don't get that one either. So, I have the shop all cleaned up. I have a new piece hanging on the wall, works in progress in back, and my new saw too. Yes, like all wood workers I am addicted to new tools, and I bought a new band saw. It is quieter than my other one, I can re-saw with it, it looks real nice, and I have another hundred or so reasons that I needed to buy it. If nothing else, it gives me a needed lift to get to work. You know how hard it is to stay on task when you are living in Northern Florida with perfect weather? Like a school kid, I wouldn't mind playing hooky from work for a while, but that new saw lets me try out new ideas and keeps me in the shop working. So there is another reason that I needed to buy that saw. Did I mention that it looks real nice too? |
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