Kenn Louie had a roofing nail go the wrong-way-first into his eye. I have an appointment in September with Dr. Charles Lin at the
Byers Eye Institute, the guy who fixed Kenn's eye.
I read a lot of Jung. That, combined with being in California, the land of abounding numinosity, may have something to do with my perspective (but maybe it's just my eyes).
It was soon after I broke the tip of my walking stick when I was in the Arnold grocery and asked the cashier if she knew of someone who could fix it. She sent me to Kenn.
Later that day, while watching him do his stuff, she drove up and I was introduced to his partner; they've been cohabitating for 14 years...maybe even married (I didn't ask).
So, this time, as I was planning my route to Nevada, I wanted to stop in Arnold. Thinking how it might be late when I left, I stopped first at the grocery. I went placidly through the line, getting directions to the ice machine, etc., completely unaware the woman in front of me was the one and same as the time before.
It's the one in the sun that got "worked" on.
As we, Kenn and I, enjoyed a bite of beer, Lori drove up. I, figuring he'd ignore the opportunity to introduce me, asked, "Who's this?"
"The boss," he replied.
I had only the vaguest recollection of seeing her in the store and no memory of having met before. (it was late that evening, in that soft drift toward sleep, it came back; and I recalled how "numinous" it was that I'd asked her about a woodworker.)
Kenn lost his left leg a few years ago to bone cancer and has a metal one instead. They took off part of his right foot since we'd last seen each other. And he showed me a quarter-sized circle he'd drawn on the edge of his work table. It was the spot, after his stroke a couple of years ago, he used to relearn how to hammer. When he wasn't doing anything else, he'd come out to his worktable and practice hitting it.
If yer gonna listen tuh the radio, its gotta have the right cachet.
He found some plans for a rocking-horse boat. Instead of a horse, it's a boat...on rockers. Forcing the luan plywood into the sides and onto the transom.
Note the redwood and pine box on the left. His artistry is astounding! And prices are affordable. Call him at 209-768-2587 to see what he's done lately.
His motor skills are such that when something has to be redone he can pull out (for reuse) without deforming them, the copper nails he uses. His patience is amazing and every other word is an expletive. If I thought he was gonna live long enough, I'd find him a parrot.
