It was the weirdest thing when Marv and Kathy won a trip from Minnesota to San Francisco that included a visit to the comedy convention.  Who knew there was such a thing as a comedy convention?

Instead of a laugh-a-minute there were also lectures on doing jokes. They learned that while government inefficiency might provide universal comedic fodder, few places are like the USA where comedians actually mock the government. In other places they might be risking their lives.

Contemplating this state of affairs, they decided to visit nearby Muir Woods which was actually land donated by a man named William Kent. It was named after naturalist, John Muir whose family from Scotland, originally settled in Portage, Wisconsin. Traveling brings such insight, thought Kathy as they hiked among the giant redwoods. “Would you look at that? The seeds of these giant trees are no bigger than a tomato,” said Marv reading some literature. And Kathy replied, “There could be jokes about that.”

In the gift shop Kathy admired some wooden bowls that were made from naturally fallen trees in the park. “Would you look at that? Holy guacamole, $120 for a bowl?” said Marv. And Kathy knew she would not be able to shake loose any money from Marv for one of those souvenir bowls. “They are pretty though,” said Kathy. But Marv wouldn’t budge. “I’m hauling out dead trees right and left on my own property. Back breaking work that. Heck, give me some tools and I could be selling bowls for $120 a pop.”

Those were the beginnings of Marv’s venture into wooden bowl making. He bought a lathe on Craigslist and set it up in his garage. Soon enough he was bringing Kathy chair legs turned out of a dead cedar tree and all sort of random things turned on the lathe. But bowls were harder. Marv’s first efforts at this were, well, laughable. But Kathy was a good sport. She convinced Marv the bowls were so beautiful, instead of using them she would display them – in the laundry room where she could view them often.

Practice makes perfect or almost perfect and over time Marv became more dedicated to his new craft. He researched techniques, discovering that the most beautiful bowls are made from the ugliest burls. “Would you look at that? Another story about the frog becoming a prince.” To which Kathy replied, “Or a princess.” They both chuckled about the possibilities of bowls being male or female.

And yes. It might have been months. It might have been years. But the time did come when the idea of a dedicated building for the bowl making accoutrements came up. And of course, the people at Sherman Pole Buildings would get involved because at Sherman, there’s a building for everything. And for Christmas that year, Marv got Kathy one of the bowls from the Muir Woods gift store. After all that’s where it all began.