We’ve unwrapped a solstice present a wee bit early.
Herself recently stumbled across a chainsaw sculptor hawking his wares and he delivered this lovely fella to us yesterday. We’d long admired another owl sculpture in Sandia Heights and she thought, “Why not?”
I immediately named him Archimedes for the owl in T.H. White’s wonderful “The Once and Future King.”
But we dassn’t call him “Archie” for short. Remember your Merlyn, young Warts:
[O]wls are the most courteous, single-hearted and faithful creatures living. You must never be familiar, rude or vulgar with them, or make them look ridiculous. Their mother is Athene, the goddess of wisdom, and, although they are often ready to play the buffoon to amuse you, such conduct is the prerogative of the truly wise. No owl can possibly be called Archie.
Mad Blog Media 
That is really unique and gorgeous! How about Bubo? Or is it too late?
He told me his name was Archimedes. But this is Albuquerque, so it could be an alias. When he nods off I’ll have a look at his driver’s license.
We have a small chainsaw carving of a bear. It’s only 12 inches tall, so it may be a Dremel Moto-tool carving of a bear. Got it at a chain saw carving shop in Williams Arizona while on a mountain bike camp up there. I vacuum it to remove the dust and then, using a paint brush, apply Howard’s Feed and Wax. Let it dry for 10 minutes or so then wipe off the excess. Ours was oil finished, so don’t know if that would work for Patrick’s owl. It will work for the fretboard of Patrick’s Roadhouse at the next string change. Been using it for years on fretboards.
This gent does bears too. They seem popular. A lot of his stuff is very whimsical, almost like cartooning with a chainsaw.
I have 3 chainsaws. 4 if you count the pole saw. I can tell you, if I ever got to carving a stump it wouldn’t look anything recognizable that’s for sure. Did he give you any care tips to keep Archimedes in top form? His detailing is superb.
The Boss has the deets, I’m sure. Onliest things I’ve ever done with a chainsaw is fell standing dead, cut lengths suitable for our wood stove, and not saw off any of my bits. Them thangs is scary.
When you look up fear in the dictionary, it has a picture of a chainsaw on top of a beer cooler.
Handsome fella!
He is, isn’t he? He’s caused me to start rereading “The Once and Future King” for the umpty-umpth time.
Nice. If I ever took a chainsaw to wood, it sure wouldn’t look like art. Well, maybe Modern Art.
The Fanta Se Chainsaw Massacre?
Can’t find the original James Fallows blog post but pretty sure this is the footage he shared:
Pumas with wings.
Magnificent, aren’t they? I’ve only ever seen a few in the wild; I always consider it a gift from Whomever.
We have better than average feeding grounds for raptors, it seems. Hawks on our fence posts 20 feet from the back porch are a common as politicians asking for money these days. And owl mating season must be a quarterly thing, because we hear them a fair number of nights and see them on rooftops throughout the year. There’s a hundred year old, 80 ft tall cottonwood nearby that always has a bird of prey watching over us. And the other day this regal fellow watched me walk the dogs back and forth, forth and back. He knew I was sinewy and wouldn’t make much of a meal, but Bruno and Auggie, he wouldn’t have minded taking a nibble out of their backsides.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1w51rzbC2GXrl;5A621511-9010-4B4D-A273-CCEA4DAA23F9