Camille: This is the first IPTW I attended in quite a while, though I have always felt I was one of the small legion of preservationeers, tramping across the field of historic preservation. Some beside me, who I know best; some ahead of me, who I learn from; and some behind me, who I help along as I can. So, we tramp along across the field, on the job or at IPTW. Sometimes it's a quick-step, other times a trudge and occasionally we sail along, just above the waves of amber grain. That’s where we ended up during my letter carving demonstration. First, the evening before the workshop, beers at the tavern and tracing granite letters from the monument across the street. The next day at the workshop carving demonstration, a story or two, how I carved letters as a kid, how I came to inherit such a fine skew carving chisel. As the visitors warm up to the topic with questions, I start a few of them on sketching letters after the great master letter carvers of a century and a millennia ago. I lay out letters in pencil on wood, “M I N D H A N D H E A R T”, and invite visitors to crowd in close. Finally, skew chisel in hand, sharp steely edge bites into soft pine wood, roughing out across the word, letter by letter, thick bars and thin, laying in the bevel, edging out the serifs, I’ve lost myself in the curve of the “R”, then a tap on the shoulder, Tirzah asks, “Could I give it a try?” Then a few others finish their tracings and step up for a go at it—and there we all are sailing along. Later, the trebuchet slings a wild load, a skill saw sails up and across the field, arching, arching over, looking a lot like the curve in the letter “R”, arching way over, way too close to that last parked car, and every preservationeer scatters in a different direction. Regroup, Regroup! There are buildings to save and people to help. See tramping preservationeers, Tirzah’s carving, trebuchet launching, and more at the new video player over on the IPTW.ORG website. --John Leeke Sharp steely edges. Fine wooden curves. -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>