Grumpa Joe's Place

I find my self in a horrible writer’s block. The ideas are not coming. Maybe it is because I am preoccupied with a building project in the Man-cave. I have had this project on the books for five years, and decided it was time to make it happen. Building a finished room is not easy for me. I watch the DYI programs and get the idea that building a complete house only takes thirty minutes to an hour. That is not the reality, especially if you are a one man contractor, carpenter, electrician, etc.

After my Lions Club projects wound down, I set the goal to complete the Man-cave by Thanksgiving. It would be simple; just take a simple baby-step everyday. The deadline for next Thursday is not realistic, but Christmas may be a reality. That is, if I don’t go overboard on decorating, both inside and out.

The man-cave is the final project in a series of projects that I envisioned when I moved into this house. Once it is complete, I will begin using my wood shop to do some intarsia art-work. I haven’t done an intarsia piece in ten years, but I still have the desire to create art from wood. A couple of my pieces are shown below. I also have  a burning desire to design and build  whirligigs. These clever devices combine woodworking with wind powered mechanical motion. Since the whirligig constitutes yard-art, the goal is to have one in place in my 2011 garden.

In between all of this physical activity, I still take baby steps toward completing a new book titled “Nightmares from Obama.” Combine that with publishing a new serialized Christmas story for Grumpa Joe’s Place, and it is no wonder why Grandma Peggy feels like she is a widow again. All of these projects and self-imposed deadlines have me stressed out. No wonder I suffer writer’s block.

A single line from a hymn keeps running through my mind, “One day at a time sweet Jesus, one day at a time….”

Filed under: family, Hobbies, Memories, religion, Warm and Fuzzy, Writer | Tagged: Baby steps, Jesus, Whirligigs, Writer's block |