A new picnic table

Stephen gives an enthusiastic "Howdy, y'all!!" from one of big brother Kenny's baseball games... We've spent a lot of time recently getting the kids to their events, whether Kenny's baseball or Beth's dance class (she's posing in the picture below for her upcoming recital):

As cute as these pictures are, we've actually become a little jaded towards these activities due to the commercial nature of them--buy this, buy that, pay for this, pay for that... At some point, we'll draw the line and won't cross it (especially if the kids aren't having that much fun).

Speaking of fun, just this week we picked up a cypress picnic table we had purchased from a local craftsman. This hand-made table is completely built out of cypress, a very durable and pretty wood. The bright honey colored wood will gradually turn a beautiful silvery-gray, and we look forward to years of enjoyment.

Above is a close-up of the beautiful grain pattern of this wood. Cypress is often used in the South for siding and other outdoor uses because of how pretty it is and the fact that it is very decay resistant. The woodworker who built this table also builds furniture or other curios out of cypress logs that were cut over a century ago and then accidentally sunk to the bottom of the stream that they were being floated down. The wood retains most of its strength and can get even more beautiful, and is often turned into wonderful items. When we picked up our picnic table (which was made from recently logged cypress), he had a large kitchen table just about done that was made out of this antique cypress. Simply gorgeous!

I'll write more later this week when I find the time. Hope just did an Earth Day/Arbor Day presentation for the Monticello Elementary School this afternoon, and the kids have been busy with baseball (Kenny got his first hit in league play this year) and dance (Beth's recital is Friday evening). I have a meeting to go to this week, and a workshop to help teach early next week, so we'll be frantic for a while longer.