The Beginning

Dear Reader-
Hello! For the next 16 weeks, I will be working on building a canoe. This will entail research, interviews, and of course, the actual building.  I'm quite excited. By the end, I hope to have a plywood strip canoe, which I can launch on Cayuga Lake. And my biggest hope: that it will float! You may wonder, why on earth is this girl trying to build a boat? Well, when I think of the things I like to do-sewing, painting, building castles out of silverware at the dinner table-they all make use of my hands.  I like to make messes and experiment and see what emerges. Though it seems strange, one of my favorite places, where I don’t get to spend nearly enough time, is in my garage with my dad. My father is a “project guy,” meaning that there is always something that needs doing, and some sort of “hair-brained idea” in the making. I love to pull up a tool box, catch up with my dad, and see what he is doing. Over the years, he has taught me how to use various tools, how to sand, how to drill, that sort of thing. But now I want to be the one in charge of the project. I want to build something. But what is something? Another place I love is Ithaca, particularly the summer on Cayuga Lake. So,I thought a canoe would let me enjoy these two places that I love.
The main goal by the end is a finished canoe. I've been told it will be hard to do-that it takes time, care, patience, and skill. I have many fears: that I won't finish in time, that my hand will slip and I'll slice the boat in half, that I will put my boat in the lake and it will leak through all the seams and I'll have to swim ashore. The list goes on and on. But I then remember that this is indeed an experiment. I know I'll make mistakes, and I look forward to those. I want to jump right in and see what happens. By June I hope to have learned something. Maybe it will be how to build a boat the wrong way, or maybe how to tell a good canoe joke. We'll have to wait and see.
Until next post-
Julia