Just finished up another No. 517 Outdoor Side Table and took a photo. It’s overexposed (strong sunlight in 91° heat on the roof of the Mini), but I like the reflection in the glass. The piece itself is very solid.
Here’s another view from the other side of the car. The top is 5/8” thick, and I like the contrast between the narrow line of the top and the geometry of the rails and battens beneath it:
I’ve also modified the No. 124 split-rail side table and will build it in a second version which is 3” higher (3” longer legs) than the original version.
So it’s been a very busy Memorial Day week. Hope to spend some time this afternoon cleaning shop after getting the most recent order out the door. Need to do a little machinery maintenance and finish a few jigs. Unfortunately, I wasn’t anticipating highs in the 90s the last week in May. Sweltering used to be a summertime thing.
Which reminds me:
Whether you think global warming is a “natural” phenomenon or a man-made disaster, you should be alarmed that we have 390+ ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere when 350 is the upper limit of a range that keeps the planet in equilibrium. (Until the Industrial Revolution, when we began extracting and burning fossil fuel, that number was a steady 275 ppm for the preceding 10,000 years, give-or-take a few centuries.)
As CO2 concentrations continue to rise each year, the science says the earth will continue to warm and create uncontrollable feedback loops (e.g., accelerated arctic melting by loss of the reflective property of ice, replaced by dark blue sea water that absorbs heat and promotes more melting.)
At any rate, these abnormally hot days remind me of the recent flooding in Australia, drought out West, supertornadoes that decimated Tuscaloosa and Joplin, Missouri, and the current brush fires in Texas, etc.–all harbingers of an ominous change in climate.
A powerfully violent climate is a sobering reminder of the new reality we’re living in. So go to 350.org if you’re interested in figuring out how to live more responsibly in a much hotter world.
(I now yield the soapbox.) Happy Memorial Day weekend.
