| Work-Brittle by Dale Moore When Craig Kime presented the program on wire-wrapped jewelry at our meeting in November, he mentioned something that took me back to my boyhood. He explained that, when you're working in wire and stroking it with your fingers, you not only are straightening it, or curling it, but also hardening it as it is being worked. As the wire is worked, internal friction creates heat, which causes the hardening. My Daddy was a hard worker and had been all of his life, even as a boy. He tried to instill that same work ethic in my brothers and me, and acted so proud of us, when we turned out a good day's work. One of the terms that he used, when referring to a man, who had become strong and tough through continual hard work, was "work-brittle." That strength is a wonderful attribute in many things, including our lives. But you know what happens when you work a piece of wire too much, don't you? It gets so hard that it begins to crack and finally breaks. Before it gets that hard, you have to soften it again, by annealing it. Sometimes, it seems that we get too hard, ourselves, and need a little softening. You know the old cliche', "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." One way that we can soften up from the work-brittle tempering, is to have some fun by getting together with friends and doing something enjoyable. One of the times when I see people laughing and enjoying themselves is at our work nights. That's one time, when there is no pressure on us, and no real deadlines to meet. We bring something to work on and we work together, visit, share ideas, and have a snack and a cup of coffee. Some people just come to visit. Some people just come to see what's going on. Some people come to learn something. I hope all of you will come to work night on the first Monday night of each month and join in on this annealing. |