Thoughts on eyebrow threading

Knot-hole box. Beetle-kill spruce, Manitoba maple and teak.

It's coming up on the end of June with all its regular year-end festivities and concerts and, in between times, I've had a marvellous time in the shop. I've made a cutting board, some boxes, and a small foldable table that sits between the seats in the camper to hold snacks for the driver.

Twelve years ago I began my journey as a woodworker and, while I still consider myself somewhat of a novice, I can do many more things than I could when I began. I now use my table saw confidently which makes the work very much easier.  I'm seeing more details than I once did and, on a good day, I can take steps to fix what will cause me grief later on in the process. People are beginning to come to me for help. I've agreed to plane down and refinish a counter top for the owner of a small flatbread company.  The top has some kind of urethane finish on it which is peeling off in great chunks. I think he's operating on a shoe-string and I have the skills and knowledge to do this for him. Then there are the oak chairs from the church. They are a nightmare to fix but I've done two and will pick up another one in the fall. I'm glad I'm not the only one working on that project.

Cutting board Manitoba maple, cherry and walnut

One of the biggest satisfactions in this work is to make something beautiful. I chatted with a friend the other day and she told me about having henna applied to her hands and having her eyebrows dyed and threaded to reshape them. We laughed together as we so often do when we marvel at our differences. I have never had a manicure or a pedicure. I never think about the colour of my eyebrows or my hair and the clothes I wear are meant for comfort, not for style. I have a tiny sense of what is appropriate dress in various situations and try to be clean and tidy. Other than that, I'm simply not interested and have trouble understanding why appearance is important to many people. I always thought that women used beauty products to impress others but as we talked and I examined a cutting board I had just finished I had another idea.

I'm guessing that most human beings require beauty in their lives and take steps to create it. I use wood; others take photos, or arrange their living spaces or take car engines apart and rebuild them so they purr. Maybe applying makeup and choosing stylish clothing helps people create beauty, first of all for themselves and then for others. Maybe the sense of satisfaction when standing back and looking at what they have created is akin to what I feel when I run my hand over a box or a spoon I have made.  I can hear some of you saying, "Duh!" but I've never entertained that possibility before. I'm not about to go out and buy makeup or colour my hair;  that's not me. But, rather than being absolutely baffled at the desire to appear beautiful, I think I may now understand it - just a little. In my books, any understanding that helps me walk in the footsteps of another is a good one.