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"La Main....

...égale et rivale de la pensée."

Paul Valery



"The hand...equal and rival of thought."

I saw this quote in the museum of the Compagnonnage in Tours, that I visited with Emmanuel on our return towards Paris.

I had already asked Emmanuel to take these pictures of my hands after leaving the job.

After four days, most of the black stain from the tannins has been scrubbed off. And another week or so and most of the little scabs will have healed. The dark red stain under the nail of my left middle finger from a poorly placed blow of a two pound hammer will take the longest to disappear.

If I am sounding like I am licking my wounds then that is how I feel. This quote struck me for it's relation to one spoken at my first project in Poland at the beginning of the summer: "The hand is the cutting edge of the mind" Rick Brown.

It seems that the hand and the mind are closely tied: And it is with a few days rest that I realize what level of stress I was under during these last six weeks. I am sure that this job has scarred my mind with lessons as well.

This was a hugely ambitious project to begin with, and at each turn it became more challenging. Emmanuel and I went right up to and over our levels of comfort and had to remain there in order to achieve what we did. We both got way more work than we bargained for and I kept pushing harder. Emmanuel, my friend, I am sure I that my patience wore out and that I was very rough at times. I apologize for going into tunnel vision and not stepping back sooner to look at the big picture.

I will not go into the details of what made this project such a draining experience, for this is a public space and it does not belong there. I repeat that I found myself working harder than I ever have, and I don't have to be ashamed of the result. I am still working out, thinking about how things developped. The mind is still working and in some dreams I am still on that job. I am looking forward to many discussions with friends, family and colleagues.

May the lessons learned from this job make the ones to come easier and more enjoyable.

This is not to say that there were not a few incredibly nice experiences in this very small world of La Garélie. Namely the help and gifts that we received from the old Compagnon cabinet maker Maurice Belair from the end of the road. Compare the size of his hands to mine, and I have another 35 years of work to get there. 

Thank you all for following my adventures this summer. It has been a great source of motivation to see that people check in on me again and again. I cannot wait to get back home to Massachusetts and have my own four walls back!

I still have a day with my parents in Aachen, then my sister Ingrid will pick me up and take me closer to Frankfurt to their new home. On Wednesday she'll take me to the airport and by the evening of that long day I hope to be back in Plymouth.

OK. I'll post a picture when I get there!