Rocks, Chains, Fountain Pens, Pencils and a Poem about Junk

Remember when you were a kid and trying to excuse your own behaviour you said something like, 'He/she started it!' Well, this is a positive take on that. I have amazing friends who drop into my inbox from time to time. And recently two of these on separate trajectories landed in my inbox and got me thinking about craftmanship and tools and how do we grow that in ourselves and others and why it's important. And in the middle of this thinking is a big hole and a 7 foot chain.


http://www.ganseys.com/inverallochy-week-3-15-january/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/magazine/inside-one-of-americas-last-pencil-factories.html

Richard Wilbur wrote a poem called Junk, in which he says, in part:

The heart winces
for junk and gimcrack,
for jerry built things
And the men who make them
for a little money
Bartering pride
like the bought boxer
who pulls his punches,
or the paid off jockey
who in the home stretch
holds in his horse.

Honest to goodness even if you think you don't like poetry, the whole thing is worth a read.  Tomorrow I'll post the photos of the rocks and the chain. It really is all very logical in its own way.