Recovery Ramble
Read time, about 4 minutes
Recovery has a way of slowing the world down. I’m home from surgery now, moving at half‑speed and trying to find my footing again. The ideas for the website are still there — more than enough — but my mind feels foggy, drifting just out of reach. So I’m writing this ramble to reset my bearings, to nudge the needle forward again, even if only a little.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of the website. One of the first pieces of feedback I ever received was the lack of a gallery. I’ve never wanted the site to look like a contractor’s page. This isn’t a portfolio. It’s a place for people to explore — discovery, education, entertainment. More like an online woodworking magazine than anything else.
A gallery could work, if it’s done right.
I picture a new page in the main navigation. I like to think of pages as rooms in a house, so this one might be called the Wood Room or the Gallery Room. Inside, it becomes a room full of doorways leading to places like the Walnut Gallery, Gallery of Oaks, Wood Finishing, Machines from the Shop, and many more. These would be photo‑ and story‑based galleries: stories about wood, its warmth and ruggedness, its stubbornness and its beauty; stories about veneer, sheet goods, and paint; stories about hand tools and power tools.
There would also be a project gallery, how‑tos, and digital downloads. YouTube videos would be embedded throughout. Google has already been recommending my site for how to photograph woodworking — that alone sounds like a gallery waiting to happen.
The best part is that these galleries are never finished. I can keep adding to them as new material is created. There’s potential for hundreds of pages. I’m at 31 as I write this; this ramble will be page 32. The Shop Rambles will build many of these pages, but together they’ll form a comprehensive woodworking website.
This is me living as a cancer survivor — adapted, still relevant, still building.
I’ve been thinking about a gallery on the scroll saw. Once very popular, now mostly forgotten. I could test it, see what it can do in a modern shop, and film the process. And of course, there’s a story behind the scroll saw. There’s a story behind every tool.
This is also an opportunity for sponsors once the site and YouTube channel are built out and showing growth. The story is still developing, and new ideas keep showing up. If you have any, I’d love to hear them.
Writing this helped me steady myself and get moving again. Another surgery is coming in a month — another hurdle to clear — but your support makes the road feel less steep. If you’ve been following along, thank you. Subscribing to the Shop Rambles is the most uplifting support you can give; it means you’ve chosen to walk this journey with me from the beginning. I’m grateful you’re here.
Join the Shop Rambles and be part of the story as it unfolds.
