| Grandpa Pete was an immigrant Norwegian,
carpenter/fisherman. He and Nettie decided to live in Oakland CA the year after the
San Francisco Quake. He built a 3 story house of flats and his own home across the
yard. He fished the estuary and cooked crabs in a 15 gallon copper boiler in the
back porch. He crafted many of his own tools, tool chests and built pieces of
furniture. One tool chest with handmade lock and key is the focus of this tale. Mother,
Esther, inherited all this and when we moved to the 50 acre "ranch" in Jimtown
CA most of it was stored in the top of the barn. Mother collected antiques as
well. She was curious about whatever it was that moved loosely in the little tool
chest but with no key to be found she didn't want to break the lock. Big mystery,
what was in Pete's tool chest?
Then I inherited everything. We moved to Canada in 1970. Three years in the
NWT and then farmsteading for 7 in a place called Hondo, 250 miles north of Edmonton.
Nearly all of the above again became stored in the "top of the barn."
My youngest son, Fred, 12, was investigating things and found a key ring, with some
obviously hand crafted keys, in a domed trunk that held items like Nettie's wedding dress.
Fred started to test the keys--lo, one opened the mysterious tool chest.
Inside were bundles of rotting string.
Common sense I may not have but being frugal is in the blood :-)
May you have many happy days of wanderings and discovery. |