No, this is not a joke. I just came across this strange confluence of people yesterday and, to me, it shows how woodworking connects disparate individuals.
I work at a university that has a professional woodshop attached. It also has a bunch of Benedictine monks. I hang around the woodshop to pick up scraps I can use for pen turning. In this case, I was dropping by to pick up some buckthorn branches that the campus forester found.
Anyway, two of the guys I talk to often were loading the drying kiln with 2x6 oak planks. So I chipped in (no pun intended) to help out. Then Father Tupa dropped by with his dog and helped us load. He is a world reknowned painter (his studio is above the woodshop).
It struck me that there are few places on earth that you could encounter a young monk woodworker, a professional furniture maker, a writer (me) and a world class painter pitching together on such a project.
Just a thought.
Bob Filipczak