I'm definitely a creative person, used to working with my hands, though I'm brand new to working with leather. I have a lot of time under my belt as a carpenter, bouncing between commercial, residential, finish and trim, trade show exhibits all the way down to ornaments, toys and marionettes and even a 20' sailboat. I'm also a multiinstrumentalist singer-songwriter with a mind that tends toward design and engineering, with a background in computers, programming and some recent cad work for 3d print modeling and designing the remodel of our bus ... more on that in a bit.

So, why leather? Well, I've been drawn to it for a while. I love how versatile a medium it is. Everything from a nice pair of earrings or bracelet to a full set of armor or luggage. If a client has a vision (and the cash), and you have the skill it seems like the sky's the limit on what's possible.

So why now? That's a much better question. Until about six months ago I'd have been continuing to sit on the fence and dream indefinitely. I worked, paid the bills, and stayed too busy to think past the 9-5. That all changed when I got struck with some weird multi-variant vertigo thing the doctors are still trying to nail down. Suddenly I can't stay standing or walk without support, I'm told not to drive, and can't work. I've got lots of time on my hands, and dwindling resources. It quickly became a matter of now or never. Take the plunge or let fear hold me back until it's too late to act. As things stand, I've cut it uncomfortably close, but I didn't know about this course until very recently, and the time I took digging around has saved me a lot of money that would have otherwise been wasted on garbage tools, unlearning bad habits and worse advice, so I'm calling that a win.

About that bus... Well, we currently live in a house that is absolutely NOT accessible. My wife became wheelchair bound about two years ago, and I'm now reliant on a walker, yet our house has stairs at all entrances, and the laundry machines are in the basement. We own a retired schoolbus that I renovated a few years ago. It is currently an RV suited to weekend retreats, and as it turns out, periods of covid quarantine recovery. While I've been playing lab rat for the doctors I've been redesigning the bus interior, drawing up a full rebuild with better insulation, full solar, more robust batteries, water supply, shower, water heater, etc. with a fully accessible interior custom built. The idea is to have a living space up front, and a work shop in the back. Thankfully the bus has a wheelchair lift already, and in a location we can use.

Can I do it myself? Absolutely not, especially the solar installation on the roof. We've got a lot of great friends lining up to lend a hand when spring rolls around. Until then I've got a lot of drafting and measuring to do, not to mention sorting through all the stuff in the house to simplify 1000 sq ft plus a basement and a garage down to about 200 sq ft., all while learning a new trade. So that's the plan, sell the house, renovate the bus, live simply, see the country, make stuff, play music when I can, and pay forward all the blessings we've been receiving while we've been facing these recent struggles. Seems easy, right? Good thing I'm looking to keep myself busy and don't sleep much.

Anyway, back to the leather course videos, feel free to pop in and impart wisdom upon this leather newbie. My first round of tools should be arriving later this week, with a trip up to our local Tandy for some scrap leather to practice stitching on. As luck would have it, they're just up the road... not sure if that luck's good or bad yet. Guess that depends on whether you ask me, my wife, or my wallet.