to the holidays, we never learn from our mistakes. Every year, millions of us loudly denigrate the crass commercialism of the yuletide season. “Not this year,” we tell ourselves, “I’m not going to spend a fortune on shallow gifts. This year I’ll make a gift with my own hands, a gift that really means something.” Of course, most of us end up trudging around last-minute looking for something, anything, that’s in the right price bracket. Perhaps this is the year for a change. What better gift for one cottager to give to another than a handmade cherrywood canoe paddle—a gift from the hands and the heart. Not only is our traditional ottertail paddle lovely to look at, it’s a practical gift. (Try doing the J-stroke with a macramé owl.) The project is a simple one and can be completed in about 12 hours of work by anyone over the age of 14. Essentially it requires only one hand tool, the venerable spokeshave. We’ve chosen black cherry, a wood that’s indigenous to
