A Rambling Writer Guest Post: Thor Makes Baby Toys

Now that Thor is an adoring grandfather to little Octavia, he’s using his woodworking skills to make some special toys for her.

Take it away, Thor:

I became a grandfather in April.  My granddaughter Octavia is adorable.  When Laura, my daughter, asked me to make some toys for Octavia, I was elated.  I am handy, and I like projects, but for the last few months my main projects have been walking the dog and pulling weeds.  Not truly life-sustaining activities.  So when she requested baby toys, I jumped at the chance.  But I need to give you some background first.

I grew up poor.   When my father, mother, and older brother moved to Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., he built a one-room cinderblock house with a dirt floor to live in. He then spent the next two years building a one-bedroom house, by hand.  He laid the foundation, built the frame, wired and plumbed it, and he did it all with hand saws, hammers, and nails.  A couple of years later I was born, and we all shared this little home.

This is my father and older brother standing next to the foundation of our house.  The one-room cinderblock temporary home is in the background.

 My father and mother were true DIYers (Do it Yourselfers).  My mother raised chickens and butchered them in the kitchen sink.  My father did all the repairs around the house.  If the septic tank needed cleaning, he would put hip waders on and bail it out.  I don’t recall ever seeing a service man come to the house.  If something needed doing, he just did it.  I grew up with much the same mindset.  I learned how to use my dad’s power tools and built things.  I used to service and tune my cars back before they became computers on wheels.  When Sara and I moved to our present house, I built a garden shed and a sauna, among many other smaller projects.

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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is Pause, a First Place winner of the Chanticleer Somerset Award and an International Pulpwood Queens Book Club selection. “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” (Mindy Klasky). It’s also a love letter to the stunning beauty of her native Pacific Northwest wild places. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com