Simple Tools
The LL Bean snow shoes were a gift from Mom, because Beverly mentioned she had her eye on these at a local antique shop. Hanging above the wood stove, this picture reflects my thoughts on simple tools. I was splitting wood using an axe and a hand axe. The wood was well-seasoned, and was already split into larger pieces. I like to split some of this wood into kindling. I was amazed after awhile at the pile I'd created, nearly filling a wheel barrow. I also felt a huge sense of accomplishment at the tangible product of this work with simple tools. I knew exactly how the kindling fir into the process of starting a fire in the wood stove, and the tools were simple with low maintenance.
This is the same sense of satisfaction I get fro cutting hay in the summer with a hand scythe--it is a great deal of work, but the moving parts are very manageable, even for someone like myself, who is not always the handiest person around. It is a very different reality, being outside, with simple, effective tools creating a wheel barrow of kindling, or bales of hay.
I love my computer and electronic switches, but there is a certain rhythm and reason, cause and effect, to these hand axes and scythes that is very comforting.
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