One of the many reasons why I was so excited to move in to our house was that I was now afforded the opportunity to have a woodworking area of my own. Growing up, I remember watching shows like The New Yankee Workshop, This Old House, and The Woodwright's Shop (still filmed right here in NC). My dad loved those shows, and he had a knack for tools. There was a shed attached to our house on Liberty Street in Bath, Maine where he would carve wooden ducks, build miniature wooden boats, and work on other projects that interested him.
I do not have the same "knack," but I'm hoping that by now having the space, I'll be able to develop this kind of skill. My goal is to pass this along to Nugget. I want to be able to build that things that he will be able to use and that we will all be able to use as a family. Either that, or I'll start losing fingers at a much faster rate than originally planned.
This love of wood working and this desire to start learning how to do it well has been intensified by not only owning a home of my own, but also by my love of a particular sitcom character. I often wish that I could be Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation. His life of whiskey, breakfast foods, and moustachioed awesomeness is one that I to aspire to and admire.
My love of all things Swanson was furthered after reading Paddle Your Own Canoe, a fantastic book written by Nick Offerman (he plays Ron and in doing so has created one of the funniest and best comedic television characters in recent memory). In the book, Offerman discusses his love of woodworking and how it has blossomed even as his acting career has taken off. He owns his own wood shop, where he builds everything from tables to chairs to beautiful canoes. The canoe is the big project, the one that I really want to try. I can only hope to get there one day.
Ron Swanson actually builds a crib in one episode of Parks and Rec, and while I'm not at that level yet, I wanted to see if I could at the very least assemble a store bought one for Nugget.
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| Every Swanson has to start somewhere... |
They make these things pretty idiot proof (read that as "Lars proof"). The instructions were pretty easy to follow, and everything was screwed together using the Allen wrench that was provided in the kit. Attach this end to this hole, put this kind of bolt here, screw here...repeat until you have a crib...
After an episode of Bob's Burgers (yup, it really only took a half an hour or so, amazing what pre-fab can do for the clueless dad-to-be), I had a working crib...
We still have to get a mattress for the it, but overall I'd say it looks really nice in Nugget's nursery (the decorating has begun there as well). So maybe it doesn't have all of the character of the one Ron made, but I felt a little bit of accomplishment that I was able to get it together and looking like a crib. Maybe one day, if Nugget ever needs a crib to start his own family (years in the future, mind you), I'll be able to build it for him myself.
Now it's time to start working on that canoe...
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