You're Who??
We Two
It was no surprise the barista paused when she heard what we had unwrapped that morning.
Longtime lovers of eclectic explorations, curiosity shops, and quirk, we were delighted with the un-ordinary gifts we exchanged that snowy morn. Jean had heard of our crewing on tall ships, my blacksmith classes, our 1982 Wanderlodge plans for snow-birding. And yet, there was a hault in her step when I exclaimed, “Oh I gave him a dark green wool tux he’s been wanting for steam punk festivals,” in answer to her question of holiday gifts.
““You guys do weird things. Interesting, but weird.” ”
Her eyebrow raised a tad as she slowly grabbed my payment for my coffee. “And what did he give you?”
“A cart for my welder,” I beamed.
Biplane Ride - Image by http://www.biplaneridesovernj.com/
She turned her back and slowly poured my coffee. “You guys do weird things. Interesting, but weird.” I wasn’t quite sure she realized she was thinking out loud., but I chuckled to myself and hoped that she, too, might find her own bits of adventure . . . however normal or unique she may fancy.
That’s us. We love our quirk, our curiousity and our love of exploration. And we love to connect with folks like you who embrace the same. Everything can be a wonder: from the small stubs of mushrooms peeking through the underbrush, giving life to a work week and making their way into our sizzling saucepan, to the grander voyages of new places — and the discovery of each new clue and new skill acquired along the way. We’re into a little bit of everything and that’s what you’ll find here.
So come along with us. You are welcome. Consider yourself among the striped sock wearers, biplane ride darers, the under-the-hood tinkerers, the imaginative um. . . thinkerers?, the lil’ dirt don’t hurt, the got a tall ship on his shirt, the artist-fine, the shared journey: yours, mine, Ours.
Pixie at Maritime Museum, San Diego, where Wes worked. 2018.
Pixie
Web designer, fine artist, crafter, explorer of natural wonders.
Nimble with her fingers, she loves anything tactile: knitting, poured paint, welding, forging, you name it! When she first met Wes, she was looking into tiny house living, but dreams can meld in the most beautiful of ways and take us to unexpected places in this great wide world and in our internal worlds to boot. And as far as the former goes, her greatest delight is in that expansive feeling you get when the last step of the footpath is crested and a great expanse opens to reveal the great valley, the bright sky, and the cool mountain breeze. Bonus if there are others at the top to enjoy it with.
Wes in the bus section of the Hershey museum. This is a similar model to his old Greyhound. 2018.
Wes
Restorer of mechanical treasures, bygone transportation enthusiast, voyager of wind, land, sea.
Adept in the workings of mechanical things, you will find Wes lovingly breathing life into what once was: our sweet little sailboat or the rigging of a 4-mast tall ship, mentally inside the engine of a biplane, and literally in the engine, plumbing, or electric of our 1982 Wanderlodge. When he first met Pixie, Wes had adventurous dreams and many-a-project cranking in his wheelhouse and was tickled to embrace Pixie as his proverbial co-pilot.
A bit of a treasure hunter, one of his favorite fortunes is the satisfaction of a revived relic now purring as it hums down the road or swooshing as it rolls over the waves. It’s his way of showing homage to the ingenuity of our forefathers, from a time when, if you wanted something remarkable, you first created it from nothing: from a thought, then a sketch, then from humble raw materials. Like the first engineers who created the internal combustible engine — who had to make their own castings and prove their concept by trial and error in shaded backyard garages and grease-smeared sketches — you’ll find Wes in his thinking chair only to later look up and find his ideas in motion as he leans over a project with tools in hand. And, in some small way, our adventure takes off from the spark of a single idea.
