Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Forged in Fire

I don’t know where else things are forged, but people like to add unnecessary words so the standard phrase is “forged in fire”. Maybe one could forge something in lava?

Anyway, Gamma didn’t quite know what he wanted for his birthday, so we bought him an experience. The experience of blacksmithing. And it comes with something tangible, not just pictures and memories.

He got to choose from a small variety of objects to make. He chose the rail spike dagger. That is a double-sided knife made from a railroad spike.

We showed up shortly before our appointed time. After signing the waivers and getting our safety equipment (goggles for those who don’t wear glasses), we went into the forge room. Not sure if it had an official name, so I just call it the forge room. Only people who have signed waivers are allowed in there, but it has walls of plexiglas so anyone can watch.

There were a couple of anvils and furnaces.

image of a forge and anvil setup

The worker guy was giving instructions and helping with stuff. For kids, he probably did 2/3 of the work; for the one adult there (not me, I was just spectating) the worker guy probably did 1/3 the work. Because the adult male could hit the metal hard enough to get it into the necessary shape, but the kids didn’t have quite enough oomph. They made progress, but they needed more help. They’d do their stuff, then the worker guy would “touch it up” with some extra strikes of the hammer.

The first step is to make the handle a little more decorative. Apparently the best way to do that is just to twist it – clamp the bottom in a vise and spin the top a few times. They had a specially-modified wrench for that.

image of a forge and anvil setup, twisting a rail spike to make the handle of the dagger

The next step is to smack the blade portion into thinner shape.

image of a forge and anvil setup, hammering a rail spike to make the blade of the dagger

There were a few iterations of this step – pound it a bunch of times while it’s glowing hot, when it starts to cool down put it back in the fire, repeat.

The worker guy’s job was to hold the item securely, and move it around to ensure even coverage of the hitting. Gamma’s job (and the other people who also purchased similar experiences) was to keep hitting, and aiming for the same spot on the anvil. The key was not to aim for a spot on the dagger, because the guy was moving it so you’d hit difference spots all over the dagger. He said some people had trouble aiming at not the dagger.

Then, Gamma’s final step, once the dagger was the approximate right shape and thickness, was to put the dagger into water to cool it off and temper it.

image of a forge and anvil setup, about to plunge a hot dagger into water

This step was not as dramatic as I had hoped. There was some steam and a slight hiss, but I wanted lots of steam and noise.

That was it for Gamma’s efforts. They handed him the dagger for a few minutes while they organized some things, then they took it back and said come back in an hour.

image of a dagger after hammering but before grinding and polishing

Not sure how it works with real blacksmithing, but for tourist blacksmithing they have you get the item close to what it should be, then they take it in the back room and grind it to be what it actually should be. That’s what takes an hour after you finish – grinding, sharpening, and polishing the knife.

What we did was go out to eat (late lunch), then we came back to the forge and picked up the finished product. As a bonus you get a leather sheath to hold and protect your dagger, and also protect your fingers.

Here is how it ended up:

image of a rail spike dagger after grinding and polishing

It turned out nicely I thought. The edges weren’t that sharp, but the point could certainly do some damage.

And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

Genesis 22:6

5th Grade Assessment

Delta’s teacher had the students in the class evaluate themselves for their strengths and weaknesses, academically.

It turns out that Delta has some strong feelings about some subjects.

image of assessment sheet for fifth grade subject, showing smiley face for math but a frowny face for writing

His scale is not linear, but he certainly was able to convey how he felt about math and writing.

A wise person will hear and increase in learning, And a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

Proverbs 1:5

Summer Recap

Now that it’s raining and snowing (yes, at the same time), it is time to reminisce about the warmer days of this past year. Here are some things we did this past summer.

First up, we went on some hikes. This is from earlier in the spring, before the trees leafed out.

picture of someone walking on a trail

Another hike, this time with some tame cranes who liked the same path we were taking.

picture of someone walking on a trail with some sandhill cranes

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The Great Shapes

Delta came home with this bit of schoolwork to show us what he’s been doing and learning. It’s good to see the school encouraging creativity – it’s the geographical equivalent of looking for shapes in clouds.

image of Great Lakes schoolwork

In case you need help reading his writing, the text is this (with slight corrections):
Superior looks like a big bad dog
Michigan looks like a person with a jetpack
Huron looks like a MONSTER!!!
Erie looks like a reindeer
Ontario looks like an upsidedown rocketship

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;

Luke 5:1

On Homework

image of a child's view of homework

Here’s the translation, for those of you who can’t read first-grader:

  • do not like
  • It is too hard
  • It takes a long time to do it
  • It is boring

I’m sure his teacher enjoyed that delightful take on homework.

Give heed to me and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,

Psalm 55:2

Clean Room

One of Delta’s assignments was writing a letter to someone (or something).

image of a letter to the bedroom

Translation: Dear Room, I think you should help clean inside you. One reason – then my room will be cleen. Reason two – it will help me get to my bed. I will help clean. Please write me back.

I need to write him back and sign it “Room”.

Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.

Nehemiah 13:9

Wrong Side

We were heading somewhere, all of us in the family minivan. As is my usual custom, I call out “Shoes! Coats! Buckle up!” throughout the house to let the kids know it is time to leave. Sometimes in the warmer weather I will still include “Coats!” just for fun.

Another tidbit you should know if that we park the van nose-in, for our 1-car garage. And everyone has his assigned (by habit) seat. The only one with a truly designated seat is Delta – he has to sit where the car seat is. But his car seat is always behind the driver’s seat and Gamma is next to him behind the front passenger seat.

Last week, we were headed to something. I rounded everyone up, they all went into the garage and I started putting on my shoes. I had barely finished tying the first shoe when Delta came stomping back through the garage door, crying and yelling. He was so mad that Gamma had moved his car seat so now Gamma was in the wrong spot. I, of course, had to go out to the van to find out why Gamma moved Delta’s car seat.

It was not an emergency though, so I started tying my other shoe. And before I finished with that, I heard Beta call out from the back of the van, “Delta, your seat didn’t move – the van is backwards.”

For some reason, probably someone blocking part of the driveway, I had to back the minivan into the garage previously. So it was nose-out. And therefore everyone’s normal seats were on the opposite side of the garage. Delta had such a force of habit that he did not notice the van was backwards, all the seats were facing backwards. He just knew Gamma was where he wanted to be.

Once I realized what happened, it was quite funny. And Delta calmed down pretty quickly once he caught on.

Even if I have truly erred, My error lodges with me.

Job 19:4