“Grind wood,” said my mind, “grind wood.” It has been several days since I attacked my latest intarsia project, so the brain pointed me to the shop. The project is based on roses. It was going to be a short easy project after my last one which put Cecil the Lion in the spotlight. So far, it hasn’t been short, nor has it been easy. Since this is the third time I’ve done a rose I thought it would be simple. Not so. I made a mistake of making the roses too small, life-size actually. But making life-size roses from wood requires great skill, precision, and patience, and I possess none of them.

Cecil the Lion

This winter, I made a note to myself to experiment with miniature intarsia. I am thinking of moving to an apartment. Moving to a smaller space would require that I give up my wood working hobby. Thus, the idea of miniatures came to me. I could make a shop with some very basic power tools that would require the space of a kitchen table. The amount of wood I’d be removing would be greatly reduced therefore the dust factor might be livable. I’m still working on reducing noise so that wouldn’t become a lease breaker.

This rose project has a large number of tiny pieces, not unlike a miniature would have. I am learning that miniatures require excellent vision. I wear glasses, but the level of acuity is not there. I have light in my shop equal to the noon-day sun, yet, I still need spot-lights to see the piece I am working on. The idea of moving toward miniaturization is quickly fading. I may be reduced to set up in the bedroom to build model airplanes from balsa wood and glue, like I did in my early teens.

COVID-19 is still a major factor in life. I will break from being a hermit by visiting my daughter for Easter. I warned her that if she gives me the virus, she will have hell to pay. Truth be known she is equally starved for company even though she has a husband, son and daughter living with her. I guess they all lock themselves into their personal spaces and keep at a distance.

The COVID-19 Task Force is finally beginning to see some light, but they are still tenuous about giving a green light to return to work. We are spending two trillion dollars to be able to learn about how this virus spreads to do its damage. If they give up too soon, the data they need will slip from their control. At the same time the economy is about to need a respirator, or it too will succumb to the virus.

Have you ever wondered what it means for the economy to die? Everyone will lose their jobs, except government workers. The rest of us will run out of money, but it won’t matter because nothing will be available for us to use money for. Food will disappear. I don’t know about you, but I definitely need food to survive, more so than toilet paper. Gas will disappear because no one will be working to refine oil, or to distribute gas. Cars will run out of fuel where ever they are and not move again. All roads will be jammed with cars and trucks. Phones will stop working. Hospitals will shut down. Electricity will disappear since power plants will shut down. The list of necessities that are not available is a mile long and we will be stealing from each other to survive.

Deaths

COVID-19 versus Economy

The picture isn’t pretty, so the decision to get the economy back to work before it deteriorates further is crucial. The new question is how many deaths will occur because of a dead economy versus the deaths from COVID-19?

Filed under: Biography, family, Government, health care | Tagged: Balance, Covid-19, economy, Intarsia |