Greetings-
I am a carpenter.
I have been one for about 30 plus years.
I am writing this blog to help me express what I do and what my thoughts are about life, mostly in general but also more specifically, about making things and fixing things. And mostly about things that are made of wood.
Why did I become a carpenter?
It was early in the 70's when I made a conscious decision to become one.
It came out of an inner world and an outer world.
For my inner world, I could see that I was a person who was lost in thought and I couldn't say if it was being 'spacey' or just contemplating my navel. I did know that I was trying to figure out life. In many of the dimensions that it comes in. So, when I accessed my placed in the world and wanting to eat and have a place under the sun but hopefully with a roof over my head, I knew I had to work. And after taking a couple of light weight jobs in making something in wood. I realized the process of making things or doing carpentry, gave me order. It gave me a connection, other than thought. I realized it didn't work unless I followed a certain order.
I couldn't jump around as I could with gazing at the night sky while exploring my belly button.
I came up with a mantra. A phrase that held me. This is what I had to do, to do carpentry.
Measure, cut and nail.
Those words have held my feet on the ground for over three decades. And don't get me wrong, I love to break the rules. Break out of a box and see what other way can work. And, my conclusion is that sometimes yes and sometimes no. Breaking out of the box allows one to view the box and it's contents, from a unique, well maybe that isn't the right word. Just looking on from outside.
Well, maybe this is illuminating on why I picked up a hammer.
Words are boxes. Very confining, yet focused and with purpose and direction.
So maybe it is a love hate thing for me.
And before I ramble on.
I want to get back to the half of the reason I became a carpenter. The outer reason. I am product of the 60's, a time of breaking things. Breaking from the past. A new start, young and also idealistic. so anything having to do with making the big money, I saw as bad.
What I think I really wanted to do was be a teacher, but school wasn't something that I could stick with. There were too many stars and an emmence wonder in the center of my belly.
So I wanted to contribute to the world I lived and making things in wood, seemed like an ideal match. Although I always wonder what the trees are thinking as I walk by them in a forest or a park.
One thing that is really great about working with one's hands. It allows the mind to wander and explore, but always mindful of the measure cut nail thing.
So where do I go from here?
When I started this I had intended to jump right in and write about the projects that I am working on right now. But an introduction seemed like the natural thing to do.
My name is Stuart Habley, I am 60 years old. I live with my wife in San Francisco. She is nurse. And I consider myself the luckiest man on earth, because she is with me and I am with her.
I am self employed. I have no employees. I am licensed with the state to be a general and cabinet contractor. Most of my work is on homes. Sometimes I will help an artist make something or a restaurant needs some woodwork. I like both. Working on homes, is personal,
well not really sure if that is what I mean. I guess there is work that is public and there is work that I do that is more private.
As part of my introduction. I think is always good to have a visual. I will see if I can get a picture of myself here. Well, that was easy. Although I did mean for it to be at the bottom down here. But sometimes, mistakes are the way.
Let's see if I can put a picture down here, of my truck and tool storage.
Well, that didn't work. And can't figure out how to get it down here. So, my introduction is, well maybe more revealing of me than I had planned or thought about.
"I cut it twice and it's still too short"
