Making Music

The Wrangler's handyman acumen is in somewhat short supply, which is not a big deal because he has so many other talents. After all, it's only fair that he's bad at something. (It is, however, exasperating when he embarks on home repair projects armed with nothing but his trusty roll of duct tape and package of zip ties.) Until last weekend, his tool box contained a pliers set that is, after 12 years, still in the plastic package; a Phillips screwdriver and a standard screwdriver (and I can't say for certain that he knows which is which); a tape measure; and his high school photo. He had a nice little hand saw for making a fresh cut in the Christmas tree trunk. And that was all.

But things are changing around here! We made not one, not two, but three trips to Home Depot last weekend to buy man tools and wood. Four nights in a row the sounds of sawing and sanding (from borrowed tools) emanated from the garage. The Wrangler is building a cigar box guitar.

I'm not exactly sure what this entails, but there was a cutting step, a gluing step, and a sanding step. As I write this, I hear pounding...so apparently there is a hammering step too. As far as I can tell, there are no steps involving duct tape and zip ties. He provided me with this picture of his work from last night. As you can see in the photo, he designed the fancy sides for the headstock of the guitar, traced his design onto wood, and cut the pieces. I will post more pictures as he moves onto other steps.

I am so excited to see him so excited about building stuff. All he needed was a connection between art and tools. Think of the possibilities! Built-in bookshelves, a gazebo, sturdy fences for the sheep...