Welcome at WOOD Magazine Issue 268, July 2020

As I write this, the world struggles with the worst health crisis in more than 100 years. Schools shut down; graduations, weddings, and funerals banned; entire sports seasons at all levels suspended or ended; churches, restaurants, and government offices made off-limits; factories shuttered. All to prevent the spread of a virus through “social distancing,” a term that didn’t even exist two months ago but became a way of life literally overnight.
In the midst of this pandemic (some folks argue you could leave “dem” out of that word), I realize how much I take for granted every day. Unlike health-care professionals and first responders, I can avoid contact with total strangers about whose health history I know nothing. Unlike those who staff gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants, I can do my job from home. I have a home to “shelter from.”
If you’re like me, you find solace these days in your shop—perhaps the original form of social distancing. As woodworkers we almost always fly solo, building furniture, toys, and cabinets, and jigs to build more things better. We don’t sit in front of a big screen drinking beer with buddies and debating who has better chisel game, Norm or Tom. We don’t get a foursome together at the crack of dawn to drill 18 holes. And when we work out, there are no signs reminding us to wipe down the machines when we finish.
Between the total absence of normal activities and the constant stream of dire discussion bombarding us from our TVs and phones lies the shop, which provides the perfect escape. Call it “mental distancing,” if you will. It’s as necessary as the social kind. (And useful, too: This may be the first—and last—time I’ll have my Christmas gifts built before Labor Day!)
That’s my socially distanced home office, above, cobbled together from my work laptop, a formerly dust-covered computer monitor, and our first flat-screen TV, called out of its attic retirement and pressed into emergency service. About 15 feet away from me, my wife, Annette, works from her ad hoc office that until recently was her quilting workstation. (She reluctantly admits that my propensity to hoard things that “may come in handy some day” has finally paid off.)
But it’s no summer vacation, working from home. The WOOD Magazine team is pulling out all the stops, despite the out-of-office handicap, to make sure you get your fix of reliable woodworking information in print, video, and digital, delivered reliably on schedule.
The virus-related ban on large-group gatherings did affect a large group of, ironically, woodworkers. Our Weekend With WOOD conference had to be postponed from May to October, which may open up a spot for you. Learn more on page 9, and I hope to see you in the fall. I’d like to shake your hand.

Dave Campbell
[email protected]
Facebook and Twitter: @WOODeditor
Instagram: @wood_editor
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