Papaw's Hammer

A friend came to help on a major construction project and scoffed when I handed him an old wooden hammer that had seen better days. I tried to see what he saw… an ancient relic needing retirement, that would most likely give him a splinter. To us, the handle was molded for a perfect fit after years of my husband’s papaw using it for countless projects – I’d never considered using another.

That moment hit home, being forced to stop and consider all the tools and mementos surrounding us, just like so many other farmers, homesteaders, and artisans, whether tools we use daily or once a year, not simply because we have them, but because of the wisdom and memories they contain.

Someone asks what makes our butter so sweet? While our grassfed cows out on the fresh spring pasture may not hurt, the difference is truly my great grandmother’s churn, of course – what could be sweeter than having the time while at work churning with my children to recall all the old stories I’d heard about their experience as Slovenian immigrants, and how hard they worked to be sustainable? And every time we use that butter, what are we really eating? A commitment to quality spanning five generations, and plenty of TLC.

I believe that’s what we’re trying to hold onto with our commitment on the Virtual Market in supporting small, local families working to build their business and give to the community quality local products. If it were simply about buying and selling we’d all work at a large retail outlet for shorter hours and higher pay, and you’d shop exclusively at a big box store. Each vendor could continue to promote their business individually – but oh the potential if we all work together! Aren’t we stronger that way? It’s dwelling on that prospect of community becoming extended family that makes me envy the old-timers… threshing bees, quilting bees, barn raisings, and neighborhood potlucks at harvest. Swapping stories and recipes with you at pick-up gives me a hint of that same community, and I treasure it.

As I play with our children while my husband works with Papaw’s hammer, I glance up to see my great-grandmother’s irises in bloom, and smile to think of these “simple” people, who believed in the value of a hard day’s work, and struggled to improve their land, care for their family, and build their community by helping one another. How encouraging to know their legacy will continue to live as we build our own communities and further our own dreams, Blessed with their knowledge and the very tools they touched.