Winter Workshop Days
It’s been a while since I’ve lived in Maine for an entire winter. It’s overall not as cold as I remember from my childhood, and certainly not as snowy, but somehow it’s been more challenging. For one, when I was younger I never had to work in an uninsulated workshop doing fine file work (attempting to at least) with frozen hands.
A typical day usually starts by feeding and playing with our three german shepherds, then getting myself psyched up for a day in the workshop while drinking multiple cups of coffee next to the wood stove at home. On the cold days, as soon as I enter the workshop I can feel the warmth flowing out of my bones, and my motivation along with it. I often have to remind myself that this is exactly what I came back for. A healthy helping of discomfort. That’s what fosters toughness, resilience. It’s what helps build real appreciation for sunny summer days.
Still, there’s a limit to how much discomfort one can realistically handle and still be able to carry out good work. Sure, when the forge is lit and I’ve been swinging my hammer for a while, there’s some degree of a buffer from the cold; it can be downright pleasant. But when it comes to the more sedentary tasks of grinding, drilling, filing and the like, I’ve found that my hours of productive work have precipitously declined in this period. There’s a necessity to return home multiple times during the day to stoke the fires and let the dogs out, but the cold has led me to somewhat overindulge in these brief periods of warmth.
I’m excited though, that over the course of the past week I’ve worked together with my uncle to insulate the roof of his hanger, where I’ve set up my workshop. Finally it will make sense to light a fire in the old wood stove, since the warmth now won’t immediately flow out of the building as it did before. Although it still won’t get much above freezing on the cold days, at least my hands won’t be completely frozen. Looking forward to the boost in productivity that will come with this improvement.
