Crafty

When I was young, and it does not seem the case today, crafty was a word that could and would be associated with a negative connotation.

You know, like those crafty fellows of the Tour de’ Fraud, or rather France, with their custom cocktails of PED’s and the little electric motors hidden within the bike frames.

Or crafty could convey a softer implication of deception; like finding that the deal wasn’t as good as what that man with the slicker back hair told you it was.

I mean I can Ride Across Wisconsin (RAW) without registering and paying the Bike Fed a hefty fee.’ But I guess some people need to buy friends to ride with, if they cannot handle riding alone. It was last weekend. It’s over. But Metro Mountain Bikers still has their Odd Tuesday rides, and that wont cost anything to make some friends. Hoyt Park, this Tuesday.

Sorry for the long lapse in posts. I had a birthday recently.

I go to most Metro Mountain Biker meetings and hear of activities past and planned and though I have connected to all the recommended sites, it is all new news to me. Could there be some craftiness going on, or is it simple oversight, another word that can be perceived differently depending on context, that leaves a long time member like me out of the loop, and will definitely leave all new members out of the loop, because they will most likely not go to any greater extents than I myself have to make connections. And new membership, big numbers, appear important to the new generation of leaders rising to fulfill position and destiny.

Am I sounding a bit too much like I am on my writer’s blog right now?

Crafty may describe someone who can always get the best end of a deal. Metro Mountain Bikers has been dealing with Ball Park Commons, or The Rock, from their beginnings. A long awaited pump track seems to be agreed upon due to the work of Wheel and Sprocket’s representative. Not sure how much craftiness was required there or if it is simply the result of working together in good faith. Metro Mountain Bikers is considering holding a fundraiser to help with the costs.

Nowadays crafty appears to exclusively denote some skill in a craft. Trail building may be considered a craft and there are no better examples of skilled craftsman in that field than at Minooka Park in Waukesha. The trail maestro in this case likes to run what he calls Dirt Church, trail work days on Sunday. Nature is a wonderful cathedral and if your Catholic you can always go to church Saturday evening. Otherwise, watch for lightning.

I doubt Dirt Church a crafty way to undermine another’s faith, and there is no Cool Aid involved so I will deem it an otherwise wholesome event.

Aha! You cry. Now you are being crafty Phillip. You just want to open a door to tell us about your faith in the Second Coming, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the third Adam. Pishposh, not the case at all but also a Cool Aid free organization.

The concept of me proselytizing here is just silly. I have a different blog for that. This blog is about my mountain biking, garden and crafts and anything else I decide it to be about. Another Cool Aid free zone.

Yes, nowadays crafty conveys a level of expertise in some craft or crafts; like making pizza. Wisconsin has three pizza farm to table operations in the southwest. They are in Cochrane, Galesville and Athens (actually I know of one other in the northeast of the state). Now that would make a great ride: Ride Across Pizza (RAP). You could work your way to the growing mountain bike trail systems of Wausau; Granite Mountain, the best Winter skiing in the state.

Here is an example of my wife’s craftiness. She restore this tiny dresser. Bought herself a sander and everything. I made sure she wore a ventilator.

My wife also cans. Something we used to do together but she never tells me when she is going to can anymore.

But she craftily got me to do the drawer pulls for her project.

I made new holes for the drawer pulls in the dresser drawer faces. I used an awl to depress where the holes should go in the jig so as the drill bit would not drift before it bit into the wood. Of course test that the pulls fit in the jig before using it on the drawer faces. A jig is a guide to ensure repeatable results.

Some may call my kombucha a craft. Just look at that SCOBY. The tea variety in my latest batch turned out just awful for kombucha. The kombucha tasted like cold bacon with emphasis on the preserving agents. So I let this batch go all the way to vinegar (hence the great thickness) hoping the taste profile would become something delightful or at least palatable. Otherwise my wife uses vinegar to clean things.

I got this hat for Father’s Day.

The $164 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? (some may no longer exist as venues have changed) Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.