So I had the blessed advantage
of it's many wonders and experiences.
As a young boy, I loved the outdoors. I spent as
much time fishing and hunting as the day would permit. In school, I spent much time
sketching wild birds,fish, and wild game animals. Most of the time it was on simple
note-book paper with the lines showing! But I didn't care about the note lines , I just
enjoyed drawing these little critters.
Not realizing the skills I was developing then for
future application, I simply ignored them and moved on . As time progressed, and I became
older...... I found myself living in larger cities like Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas,
Texas.
Life offers many alternatives........ some memorable
and some really sad. I had spent the better part of my 20's, with not much direction in
life. I had always felt inadequate and sort of empty inside! Knowing that everyone serves
a purpose in life......just couldn't keep mine at an even keel. Learning different trades
, through the past 25 years, aided in my ability to becoming more self sufficient. But
that just didn't seem meaningful enough to me.
But......... in 1996 ....... after what seemed like
9-10 years of wasted time and effort, I met my beautiful and loving wife Sheila!! We
started our lives together, April of 1996. It didn't take long for things to start
changing in my spirit! All the bad "pre-programming" that I'd gathered through
the years started to " delete"from my mind.
I never knew how to feel about anything before I met
Sheila. She began to talk of things in the" old ways", like the era of the
1850's. It would be her love of these old ways that would become my inspiration of the
things that I hold dear in my life today!
She and I started cutting and selling firewood to
try and make "ends meet" in the winters here. I soon realized that we were being
given an opportunity for resources that would soon reveal itself.
People began to call us to give their damaged trees
for firewood. Trees that had fallen in their yards, due to ice or storms! I figured there
had to be more "use " of these trees than just firewood. I had always wanted to
try to carve something from a log. So one day I rolled up my shirt-sleeves and went to
work!I dove off head-first, not having a clue as to what I was doing, and began to carve a
large fish.
I had no carving tools, no education, but alot of
determination!! The more I carved ..... the more confidence I gained. It was amazing at
how time flew by as I worked on the fish. And after about 300hrs. the carving was
finished. After that ...... I was " hooked".
I found the images I had kept in my mind , of fish
& wildlife growing up, started to surface! I look back on what I thought was "
wasted time and effort", and now realize why some things happened.
I know now that I had to be in a position mentally,
emotionally, and I suppose spiritually before I could appreciate the difference! As a
" wood-carver" , I've learned many things about the side of life that I never
knew existed before. And that is a peace in itself that some folks never get to
experience. People express their individuality through many different channels.
As a wood carver, I have found a way to do that!
Every time I carve , it puts me in touch with the simple things in life. I find myself
listening to sounds I never paid much attention to, before I became a wood carver!
Hearing the lazy trickle of a stream, the song of
a bird, the light chatter from a squirrel, or the crickett's song of early fall. Since
I've been given the ability to carve, I've also been given a responsibility with it. You
see...... we are not given talents and gifts to just throw away, we are responsible to use
them.
I hope that through my wood carvings, I can add to
some of the beauty that our planet offers us. I can honestly tell you that being a wood
carver has been one of many experiences in life that I've thoroughly enjoyed!
Sheila & I have based our buisness on honesty
and integrity. Therefore the name ... Simple Life Creations. For without the two, life
doesn't have true meaning!
