SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

Let me tell you how it all began: I was out with my camera, taking pictures of some of my favorite cabins when I came upon a man out in the front of this cabin that sits on the corner. I commented about the wonderful bench he had made and he proceeded to tell me all about it, invited me to see the others and once inside, we talked about where we had grown up. He currently lives in the town I was born in and his wife lived in the town I went to High School at. When she told me which street she lived on and what High School she had attended, I knew exactly where this was. I went back to camp and told my husband all about my conversation with Steve Bidwell and his wife Karen and then there was this funny look on my husband's face. He said "Uh oh!--I think I dated her in High School!". So, we both headed back to their cabin and when we started talking to them again Karen looked at Bill and said "I think I dated you". What a small world it is. And, the second coincidence was that Steve's good friend lives in our town currently and works at the local Ace Hardware where my sister is the manager. They grew up together in the Bay Area and still talk at least once a month. It certainly is a small world. I am always amazed at what you find out about people once you start talking and asking questions. If you just walk by someone and never say hello or ask them any questions, you will never find anything out about them. It's just like with the blog world. Reading and asking questions, finding out about each other, we all find similarities and who knows: maybe there is only six degrees of separation between all of us. Maybe I know someone that you know or are related to.


This bench sits out in the front of the cabin. Steve told me that it is chained underneath so that it wouldn't go "missing". I asked him so many questions about his handiwork that he invited me to the back yard to see the other benches he had made and from there, he invited me into the house (oh goody!) to see the trestle table that he built. He seems very talented to me and I would say that he really loves doing it from how beautiful they all turned out.




This is a close-up of a chair that is located in the backyard that Steve Bidwell also made. I laughed when I saw the center of the chair and how the piece of wood that he used look like a foot. You can click on the photo to enlarge and see how similar it looks to an actual foot. I think it is known to his family as "the foot chair or bench". I might be wrong about the actual terminology but not the subject matter.


This is a picture of the bench located in the backyard with the "foot" located in the middle. Isn't it great?


This bench was hand-made by Steve Bidwell also and he carved his grandchildren's names in the back of the bench. I love the yellow color that it has. It sits in the backyard of the cabin under a treed area.


Here is the trestle table that Steve Bidwell made of straight-grain wood. It has a lovely hue and looks so incredible in the dining area of their cabin sitting on top of the braided rug. Isn't all the wood in the house incredible? I would imagine that it is all original and probably dates back to the 1920's.


This is the joint that holds the table together and gives it strength. These are all hand-made by Steve Bidwell. He is a very talented man. I really enjoyed the tour of the house and what made it even better was the fact that we all had a connection (or two) so it all seemed so much more personal. Maybe one of these days I will see him hanging out in town at his friend's house or at the local hardware store. Or, maybe they will rent their house to us one of these years! One can only hope.