Snow-bird Smith busy as she waits for the snow to end
April 18, 2011
"One should not start out learning the art of wood lathe making by making a segmented wood-turned bowl, but we did," said snow bird Sharon Watson Smith, currently in Yuma, Arizona, waiting for the weather up here to turn more clement. "We did, and we actually got a bowl made with the help of some great fellows at the woodshop who knew their business! It acutally was fun, and we learned a lot!"

Sharon, long the brains behind Boundary County School District 101 as the district clerk, hasn't slowed down a bit in retirement. Though she shows her intelligence by heading for warmer climes when the weather up here turns cold, she's not changed a bit ... she's just active in two communities now rather than one.

"I just want to live life and experience what I can with the time I've been given here," she said. "The journey has been great ... most of the time ... there were a few peaks and some valleys, but overall, I can't complain. I've met so many wonderful people as I've passed through this life, and they've made me what I am today."

As she waits for the snow to go away up here, she's not just basking in the Arizona sun, as evidenced by the picture above, taken with her cousin, Marlene Haugse, a retired English teacher from Rugby, North Dakota, who also winters in the same RV park.

The lathe turned bowls are but one of their adventures.

"Sharon! They look great," said Mary Mueller Masuen. "I am impressed!"

"We were too, Mary," Sharon replied. "They also make a bowl out of a full piece of wood. We maybe should have tried that first, but had signed up and made it through the class with five other guys. It worked well, we'd run saws, sanders etc. before, but never the lathe ... now that's a rush!"

The new-found skill isn't going to sit unused, either.

"My other cousin who also winters here," Sharon said, "bought us gals the whole set up so we can play in the shed next winter and cut up wood to our hearts' delight! We've been thinking wine bottle holders, pens, more bowls, etc. The possibilities are endless!"

There are other women in the winter park, she said, who produce some very beautiful crafts, and they hold an art show each spring to show off what they've made.

It's very likely that Sharon and Marlene will be joining in around this time next year.

"It makes one want to get more involved with this craft," Sharon said. "Now take care, and shut off that damned snow so we can come home!"