Cherry from Tennessee

I spoke earlier of how my grandfather was making us a table. Well, our tiny two-person dining room table is no more. It has been vanquished to the make-up room and has been replaced by an incredible masterpiece that seats 6 to 8 people.

My grandparents (Gran and Pop) came to visit along with my cousin Jesse - bringing our new furniture along with them. It was really cool to have some of my family here and I definitely appreciate that they made the 700-mile trip to see us.

I sat and stared at the new table for a few hours the first night it was here. And Ris and I have had great dinners at it nearly every night. If you come to the house any time soon I will most certainly introduce you to it as I am very proud!


Here is Pop assembling and putting the final finishing touches on the table. He got into woodworking when he retired from teaching photography at WKU. First he turned bowls on a lathe and slowly worked his way up. He now makes all sorts of beautiful creations: tables, chairs, walking sticks.
It's huge! The wood is cherry and it comes from a tree that fell down during a tornado, the same tornado that went straight through downtown Nashville quite a few years back. The tree fell on the old farmhouse porch on my grandparents farm, right in front of my cousin Austin as he was about to walk out the door. It's cool that the wood has been put to good use ~ Pop has made several pieces from the lumber it provided.

Gran & Pop and Jesse stayed for a few days and got to visit lots of fun places: Baltimore, DC, Annapolis, Catonsville, and my favorite, Historic Ellicott City.
This is while watching a street performer downtown. Pop said he was singing "their music" (that's oldies).
and also, a dragon!
~Nathaniel