Heading South

Rob-Portrait351By the time you read this missive, I will be wandering through the primeval forests of central Arkansas (with a bona-fide forest ranger) — looking for the much-coveted bobwhite quail. (Who, by the way, convene in coveys.) From there, I will mosey on down to Texas, where according to my friends from the Lone Star State, “we’ll be fixin’ to shoot some birds.” Although to my Yankee ears it sounds a bit more like “burrrds”. My bird dog, who for the last month or so has either been freezing outdoors in twenty-below temperatures or lounging on the sofa, is in for a big and a pleasant surprise. She will go to sleep in a dog box in the back of my Blazer, with dreams of snowdrifts and wind-chill, and wake up in big woods and sunshine.

And while I am away, I’ll be looking for unusual hardwoods and other interesting woodworking commodities. The last time I hung out with this particular group of reprobates, I came home with a stash of 100-year old longleaf pine and some persimmon hardwood. (Oh, and some quail, too.) That is one of the things I like the best about woodworking. Wherever I go, North, South, West …or even to the Far-East, there is woodworking to be found and woodworkers to talk to. So I’ll see you in a couple of weeks: tanned, tired and ready to woodwork.

Rob Johnstone, Woodworker’s Journal

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