pencil aroma

sketching the idea

zeroing in (but not there yet)

The sauna is lined in red cedar.  Every cut I make to fit the paneling and the trim reminds me of sharpening pencils in grade school.  Glendale Elementary had those lovely-cranky-spiralizing types of pencil sharpeners.  I'm sure all schools in the 60's had the same.  They say that smell, more than any other sense, has the ability to transport us back to select memories.  I'm not sure I have a distinct-pencil-sharpening memory.  In general, it's the sensation of being physically engaged with making fresh a drawing and writing tool that was at once ubiquitous and personal.  Mine were personalized with my teeth marks - but were Ticonderoga No. 2's just like everyone else's.