!! Harry the boot (BEL)

Harry's BEL Post #1

Hello everyone! I made it to Wheaton Labs yesterday after 14 hours of driving through high winds. It has been great getting an opportunity to settle in and start helping in small ways over the last day.

Given that my experience as a Boot is also aligned with our family goals which Alex is capturing on this thread, I am going to use this location to capture my BEL posts for anyone who wants to keep up on our (initially just "my) journey given that we are all going to play a part in it. You may have noticed that I said this was initially just "my" experience. This is because ahead of our move as a family to WL in May, Alex and the kiddos have allowed me the opportunity to come to WL alone to get my Boot experience kicked off. For this, I am very appreciative and grateful to have a family willing to sacrifice our time together to let me have a few weeks to calibrate before we all "take the dive". THANK YOU <3 !!

As for this first post, I decided I would share a story of a project I was fortunate enough to complete just before making this trip. Every year for the past 3 years, we have participated in a primitive skills gathering in Arizona in February. Attending this gathering started with (and in many ways continues to be) my wife, Alex's, yearly birthday present (which she "shares" with me and the kiddos). After that first year, we all fell in love with the opportunity to "disconnect" and learn new skills (ranging from animal processing, tanning, blacksmithing, leather working, herbalism, wood working, fire making, flint napping, hafting blades... the list goes on), so we have continued to go back each year. I have tended to gravitate towards blacksmithing mainly because I did it years ago in my 20s, and I have always wanted to get back into it (and just haven't felt comfortable diving into it in my (sub)urban backyard or garage) as it compliments my other interests in wood and leather working. I have had tremendous experiences in the blacksmithing classes the past two years (including long days, blisters, and sore hands -- it is one of the few times when I finish a week of "vacation" feeling exhausted but so fulfilled), but this year's gathering had some additional meaning for me given the significant change of life ahead for our family. Knowing the types of work ahead, I was hoping for two opportunities: 1) buy an Axe from the blacksmith I have worked with the last two years at the gathering, or 2) make an Axe at the gathering (but this would only happen if that was the planned blacksmithing class for the week). We arrived at the Gathering not knowing what he classes were. Once we registered and got the course list, the first thing I saw was "Blacksmithing - Axe Making (All day)" for the week -- I cried out with joy -- it felt like I had manifested the class out of shear desire and hope. Alex said she hadn't heard that type of giddy cry of joy from me in a long time.

So below is a series of pictures showing the setup and the process I went through a couple of weeks ago making my own axe to bring to WL (along with bonus leather work at the end of the week making a sheath for it). Enjoy! I look forward to sharing more with you as our adventure unfolds...

A week's hard work distilled into a few pictures and an artisan tool - thankyou Harry! There is something truely alchemical in working with metal, so I sympathise with your fascination with blacksmithing. I hope you are able to do more of it at wheaton labs - I wonder if the rocket forge is still there? Mind you that hand cranked forge looks rather effective.

Nancy Reading wrote:A week's hard work distilled into a few pictures and an artisan tool - thankyou Harry! There is something truely alchemical in working with metal, so I sympathise with your fascination with blacksmithing. I hope you are able to do more of it at wheaton labs - I wonder if the rocket forge is still there? Mind you that hand cranked forge looks rather effective.

Nancy - Thanks for sharing that you enjoyed that post as much as I enjoyed that process. There is hard work, skill, and art to each of the passions that I have, but there is also something special when it comes to making metal tools via blacksmithing. Ironically, your comment about the rocket forge has come up a few times during the short stint I have been at WL so far because of me sharing my story about the axe and other projects I have completed in past gatherings (primitive forge/bellows, hammer, tongs, knives -- see the picture of my first completed knife below). I know that Esteban really wants to make his own knife if we can make it happen, so I am interested in trying when Alex gets out here, because Rockets are her forte.

BEL Post #2

Hello everyone! Second day and first official boot work day. We started off today with my first morning meeting with Stephen & Paul setting our priorities. First up was a tour around WL to pull data and switch batteries on the trail Ccameras (I felt like the camera work was an excuse to take me on the WL tour since I haven't had the opportunity yet to see most of the land/structures). After servicing the cameras and completing our tour (accompanied with lots of questions from me), we started our afternoon tackling to fixes at Allerton Abbey. The first issue was related to damage along the earthen floor between the entry way of the Abbey and the "bedroom" to the right of the front door. We cleared away the broken cob fragments and inspected the deadman log beneath the cob for any damage (which there wasn't any). After some shared ideas, we now have a good plan forward to repair the floor with a beautiful aesthetic, while offering an ability to continue to observe that the problem doesn't persist later. I expect you will see more on the fix tomorrow .

Our second task was to fix the damaged threshold on the Abbey front door which was causing it to stick when closed (or nearly closed). We decided that in order to implement a more permanent and serviceable long term fix, we would need to remove a portion of the threshold that was damaged to ensure the damage was contained. I was able to walk Esteban through using the oscillating saw to help with the task and we were able to prep the space and take measurements so that we can start working the fix tomorrow!

I am looking forward to using my skills to help with these and other exciting new efforts ahead at WL!

I love you, babe, we miss you so much!! Can you take a picture of yourself with the Abbey and some interior photos? I don’t remember the last time I was there.