The Joy Trip Project

It just wasn’t going to happen. Shamane and I turned the newly built chair every-which-way, but there was no getting it up the stairs and through the narrow door from the basement.

“I hate to tell you this hun,” she said. “But I think you need to take the arms off.” My wife is every bit as smart as she is beautiful. Twelve years of marriage has taught me not to argue. Repeatedly muttering a single syllable expletive, I backed us down the steps and skulked over to my workbench. The precision Japanese handsaw I cherish would make quick work of this. After two solid weeks on an extended Joy Trip I spent my first Saturday at home building an Adirondack chair. The simple but classic design is a one-day project I could knock out in 8 hours from first cut to finish. The practice of woodworking is a wonderfully active meditation that frees the mind while transforming thought into reality. Ironically, the creation of this comfy lawn chair was a roundabout way of settling my overloaded brain to contemplate and then report on the many adventures I discovered in my recent travels.