Decorative Hardware

An acquaintance of mine has a rather bizarre sort of character you might say, for he has this weird liking for anything that pertains to Halloween.  If your ever invited to his home, the first thing you’ll notice is the way he has his house furnished.  Pictures of haunted houses, ghosts, skulls, bats etc. hung on every wall , I mean everything in this guys house had some sort of ghoulish feature or attraction that made you feel that you were in the TV hit series ” The Munsters”.  Even the cabinet pulls in his kitchen were in the shape of small snakes.

The better side of my friend is that he had a talent for carving sculptures of any design.  Of course he would always enter the state pumpkin carving contest each year and almost inevitably take 1st. place.  This year was no exception, as he carved an uncanny likeness of Frankenstein into the side of a very large pumpkin!  Too bad he wasn’t able to use his talent in re-decorating his home. 

Being a volunteer fireman had it’s moments.  A call came in from the fire chief through my 2-way radio alert service that there was a major uncontrolled blaze in a rural area 5 miles from town.  Because of  the possibility that we might be able to save someones life, getting to the scene as fast as possible was critically essential.

 As always with a bad fire, one could feel the heat from the inferno blocks away.  Reports came in from the neighbors that the occupants of the home were on vacation, and nobody was in the burning structure.  That was good news to hear from a fireman’s perspective being that nobody including the firefighters would have the chance of getting seriously hurt or killed.  I still had walk up to the front of the house, and try to get the door opened just enough to make double sure that all was safe. 

Apparently the fire inside the home was getting extremely hot, because the door handles to the entry door were already beginning to glow an inferno red, and starting to show signs of melting.  Waiting for the morning to arrive and the blaze to subside, we were all relieved when we received an actual call from the vacationing owners that they were all safe in a nearby state including their pet dog.  Feeling much better I returned home knowing nobody got hurt and got some much needed sleep.

I could see the big island of Hawaii below us, as our plane started desending rapidly toward the airport about 10 miles away.  All I could think of was the fishing trip that I had planned the month before and knew that I would be fishing for a Great White the next morning.  My fishing guide was a weathered looking middle-aged man, sporting a white beard and wearing a khaki green t-shirt with the words “Blood Sport” on the front.  He told me that we would be fishing an area about 20 miles North of the Big island where he and his crew had spotted what he considered a record breaking White.

It didn’t take us long to reach our destination, and we were soon chumming the area that we were getting ready to fish.  He had me positioned at the back end of the fishing vessel strapped into a pivoting chair as we waited for the first strike.  About 2 hours later it happened!  I had managed to hook into a giant killer White that had the strength of a whale!  After 3 hours of muscle wrenching agony, the man-eating giant was now close to the boat, and while thinking to myself that if he pulls any harder, there was the chance that he could rip me from the chair, thus sending me overboard and becoming his next meal. 

Luckily the big fish tired enough so that one of our crew was able to gaff him and finish him altogether with a lethal shot to the head.  I was extremely happy to learn that my Great White was the second largest taken that year and would hopefully stay in the record books for awhile.  Definitely the fishing trip of a lifetime, luckily for me and not the shark!

 I knew that I should’ve stayed home last night.  A couple of friends of mine decided that I needed to tag along and check out a 200 year old house that was suppose to be haunted.  Rumor had it that the man that used to live in it had managed to lure unsuspecting passer-bys into its shadows, then taking them against there will, would slowly put them to death using his doctoral powers.  They say you could hear the cries of the souls that had been his victims, especially on full moon nights. 

Not only was it a full moon night, but Halloween on top of it!  The four of us walked up to the front porch and came up to a huge wood entry door.  As we entered the tall foyer, we could see a very large staircase leading up to the second floor.  Just as we started climbing the creaky steps, I began to shake and sweat.  We were now in the long hallway and entered the first room that we came to.  Couldn’t see much, but managed to push the interior door to one of the rooms open.  That’s when we all heard a haunting wale coming from within!  I’ll bet I broke a track record as I ran down the steps and out the front door in seconds!  Lesson learned!  Never will I do anything that stupid on Halloween again!

 I had camped on this mountain before, but this time there would be a little surprise for me waiting at my campsite when I arrived there later that evening.  It was the first day of  hunting season today, and I was heading back to my spike camp after a long days hunt to cleanup, make dinner and try and get some rest in preparation for tomorrow hunt.  As I was nearing my makeshift home, I noticed that there was a flame in the fire pit right at my campsite.  That’s odd I thought thinking to myself, there’s no way a fire should be burning there by itself, when I unexpectedly heard the distinct sound of a mans voice speaking deeply the words “hello friend”

I almost jumped off my saddle.  Then the man told me again in that deep rugged voice of his “hope you don’t mind me resting a little, been a long day on the mountain.  He seemed quite friendly,  so we introduced ourselves to each other and I told him that he was more than welcome to make himself at home.  Never in my life did I ever see such a rugged old man, all decked out with furs and skins, and all kinds of mountain hardware that he managed to carry on his back, and which seemed to be his only possessions.  We became good friends, and in the morning shook hands and went our different ways.  On my way down, I kept on thinking about the old man and  how he had became a part of the mountain on which he lived.

 Often stop and wonder how the poor folks in third world countries make a living, or how they survive without a job?  My dad used to tell me when I was sitting at the dinner table, to eat everything on my plate even if I didn’t like it.  He would then explain to me how there’s many poor families in far away lands that would go sometimes for days without even having a drop of food.  Those sad but true stories would stick in my mind forever, and thus I always give thanks for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon me throughout my everyday life.

It was my turn to make the Thanksgiving day family dinner this coming holiday and was really looking forward to it.  As I stood cooking in my kitchen, I couldn’t help but notice the beautifully grained oak doors and the handcrafted cabinet knobs and pulls that hung on my kitchen cabinetry. Again realizing that maybe the simple things in life that dont mean much to me or you, might mean a whole lot more to another poor unfortunate soul.

 I followed the directions on the old tattered map precisely for 7 years now.  I’ve been trying to locate this particular treasure without much luck, but today was different, for I’m quite sure that I finally mastered decoding the text which was written in an effort to confuse anyone that happened to find it.  A Spanish ship carrying gold and silver bullion was sent to the New World by orders of the King about the middle of the 16th century, but was suddenly pirated and sunk when it neared the Virgin islands.  The murdering thieves managed to extract some of the ships precious cargo taking it to a nearby island before they were brought to justice and executed on the same island.

Because the island was so flat, it didn’t take me long to figure out that the pirates would have hidden the treasure as high up as possible, thus protecting it from high tides and ocean storms.  Hidden in a thick jungle on a small knob I found a very crude and worn out structure that looked like had been made of old planks from possibly a ships deck.  The exterior door had a rusty old but strong surface bolt that I managed to break after several tries.  There it was, the pirates ill-gotten treasure!  The chests were marked with a forbidding skull that was used as a warning of the consequenses to anyone that would even think of taking them.  Warning or not, they were now mine!

Blacksmithing is arguably the single most influential proffession in history.  Ancient man used primitive methods to shape the first iron tools, thus bringing mankind to a new era, The Bronze Age.  Since that time, most major inventions have been built upon our ability to shape and change metals.  Throughout history metal has been the number one choice for creating everyday things that we use. 

The everyday things that we use may have changed, but the medium has not.  We no longer need swords or arrowheads, sheilds of spears,  but there are a number of things that we do need: Automobiles, silverware, factory equipment.  True, these more modern metal objects are not made by traditional blacksmithing methods, however the modern pocesses were inspired by these traditional methods. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find anything that is made with traditional methods, however, the artistic appeal of this long streching history is not entirely lost.  One of the most commonly forged items today is decorative hardware for your home.  One can find everything from forged cabinet knobs and pulls to forged iron door hardware online. We dont need to lose touch with our primitive past.  Bring this artistic beauty back in to your home and dont forget where we came from.

My cousin lives on a huge cattle ranch located in eastern Wyoming.  He invites me to come visit him every year, along with some other relatives for a couple of weeks each summer.  I always enjoy this visit because it gets me away from city life and is very stress free and relaxing.  It usually takes me a long day to make the drive, but is worth every minute.  My visit this time would include horseback riding, nature walks, a little bit of stream fishing and maybe a card game in the evening over a cold beer.

This ranch of his, if you can believe it is 6 square miles of flat to gently rolling terrain mostly covered with sagebrush and willows near the creek bottoms.  The wildlife here abounds with deer, elk moose, coyote, fox, different species of songbirds and many other animals too numerous to mention.  After a long walk of taking pictures all day, I was fairly tired and finished unpacking my belongings in the room that was so gratefully provided for me.  Every thing about my cousins place had a special sentimental kind of feel, including the drawer pulls used to pull open my dresser.  Having the window to my room slightly opened, I could hear the coyotes off in the near distance serenading the ranch as I slowly fell asleep that night dreaming wonderful thoughts about the days end.  I could hardly wait for tomorrow.

Interior decorating takes a lot of hard work and planning. Others may say that anybody can design their own homes, but interior decorators have studied for years and are experts on how to add those final finishing touches. They know which color scheme works best for you and they will advise you on the nitty gritty details–even negligible-looking knobs and pulls may actually add to the total effect of, say, a kitchen.

If you think your home needs a new look, or if you are in the process of building a home, consider hiring an expert. This way you are assured your place will look the way you want it to.