Thirty-five

Right after I woke up this morning, Charlie came in with a card that he and Amanda made for me, and he was really excited to give it to me and wish me a happy birthday. So sweet.

I think I’ll remember this as the year I got back into making things after a couple year hiatus. I started off last year with redoing my workshop:

Insulating and heating my workshop with a diesel heater

Workbench build

Workshop Dust Collection

French Cleats

Then I replaced our garden beds, built Charlie a sandbox and his own workbench, turned some things on the lathe, and made a Little Free Library. Then I learned how to face turn bowls and platters on the lathe (a goal of mine for the past five years!) and leveled up my sharpening game.

I also got into fly tying, for which I made my own tying wax, fur and wool dubbing, bodkin and bobbin threader, and vise stand.

This is a small one, but brings me a lot of joy: I made a really great hot sauce from the red savina peppers I grew, and I eat it a couple times a week. I can’t wait to make more next year.

When I am too exhausted, ill or busy to work in my shop, I will shuffle down the stairs to my 15′ x 25′ workshop and simply stand there for a few minutes with my hands on my tools.
Chris Schwarz

This quote from Chris Schwarz in The Anarchist’s Tool Chest pops into my head about once a week. The best way to get out of a funk is to start making something. This has helped me a lot this year and I’m always glad when I have, even if it means I slept a bit less that night.

There were some pretty big challenges this year, particularly related to work and parenting, but we got through them. I’m not going to lie and say I’m better for it because I’m not sure that is true. They did take their toll. I learned a few things. Overall they make me thankful to have Amanda as my wife, partner, and helper.

I blogged more this past year than I have in the previous six years! I hope to keep that up, I feel like I’ve settled in to a good cadence of weekly updates and posting projects.

In the fall I got into fly fishing again, which is a great way to get out in nature and recharge. It also meshes with something I wrote last month:

There is so much in our own communities that we ignore/miss/tune out/don’t notice. One of my goals this year is to explore and experience where I live in new ways.

This is an extension of trying to lean into the seasonality of this region. Noticing how the brook in the woods changes from season to season. Keeping an eye on the wineberries so I can pick them at peak ripeness. Noticing when certain wildflowers emerge. Which birds are around when.

Taking it a step further, I’d like to see the same place from a new perspective. I’d like to walk or ride my bike some places we normally drive and experience it at a slower pace. Fish a spot we’ve only driven by. Try catching some striped bass where I normally row my boat. Have coffee in a new park. Go to different playgrounds with Charlie.

Related, I haven’t been much into clubs in my adulthood, but I recently joined my local Trout Unlimited chapter and am starting to get more involved. I went to a fly tying night, signed up for the annual dinner next month, and volunteered to help with their website.

In the past year we’ve enjoyed being more intentional with our friend group. Perhaps getting involved in a club will scratch that itch as well.

Last year, I wrote:

So, what do I want my thirty-fifth year to look like?

Take care of my health. Read more, scroll less. Prioritize family time. Make things. Keep improving our lives & surroundings.

How is that going?

Take care of my health.

For the most part, I’d say this year was an improvement over the last. I’m sleeping better (magnesium!), hydrating more, and have better gut health (probiotics!).

What isn’t going better is my overall stress level (mostly work-related). I’m looking forward to that going to zero during my sabbatical, which starts in a month.

Where can I improve this coming year?

Stretch more

Move more

Read more, scroll less.

I’m inconsistent on the scrolling less part, but I know I’m better at it when I don’t have social apps on my phone, so I just deleted them again while writing this.

My reading has declined a little bit once I started tying flies late last fall, since I do that late at night when I’d otherwise be reading. Perhaps I can start listening to audiobooks at that time?

Prioritize family time.

I think Amanda and I have been pretty good at this! We take the time to recharge individually when we need it and that allows us to be more present with Charlie. We are a good team. Some of our favorites include family art time, woods walks, cooking together, taking care of the garden together, playing in Charlie’s sandbox, playing with Duplos/magnatiles/bristle blocks together on the living room floor, and reading to him.

The key is the daily connection time in all four relationships in our family (Amanda and me, Amanda and Charlie, Charlie and Me, and all three of us together), and for the most part I think we are doing pretty good on that front. Sometimes we get it wrong and need to try again, but we do and I think that is what counts.

Make things.

See above. One of the best years in recent memory for this.

Keep improving our lives & surroundings.

This year we replaced our fence, stained the deck and shed, replaced the trellis on our deck, replaced the garden beds, built Charlie a sandbox, replaced the washer and dryer, put in a sump, put in a radon mitigation system, redid Amanda’s office, and signed a contract to have our siding replaced in April. Feeling pretty good about all of it. Always more to do, but moving in the right direction.

What do I want my thirty-sixth year to look like?

More local and seasonal focus. More time outside. Daily connection with Amanda and Charlie. Take advantage of ideas/inspiration/excitement when it strikes. Keep making things.

Previous birthday posts: 34, 33, 32