How I should write this updated bio has eluded me for quite some time,
it's hard to distill one's life into a snapshot of who they are, how
they arrived, and where they hope to go but I'll give it a try. I think
I'll start with the Porch. I was a very early but infrequent surfer of
the porch in its earliest days. A few years later, back in 1999 having
moved from NH to GA I needed to learn "where be the tools" so I started
surfing Old Tools again, learned about and joined MWTCA, and bought a
whole hell of a lot off the Bay. I officially joined The Porch in 2001
with the posting of my bio but slowed down and ended my posts in 2003-
2004. I continued to read upon occasion and kept up with MWTCA. The
reason - I was a party to a very messy divorce in 2003 - the ex moved
away taking my two beautiful girls and let's just say that has taken a
lot of my spark away.

Today I am engaged to a wonderful woman who inspires me. And having
gained more wisdom via the divorce, the absence of my girls, and the
inevitable midlife crisis that followed; this 44 year old galoot is
ready to focus on what's important: my beautiful bride-to be, my girls,
our new family, and the things that bring me happiness, pride, and a
sense of accomplishment.

I find it funny how life is a circle. If you asked me when I was a young
boy of 9 what I wanted to be, I would have said a forest
ranger/lumberjack/blacksmith; live in a log cabin, hunt and trap; and
like an indian, live completely off the land. Well that didn't happen. I
started out as a merchant marine, shipping being so bad in the mid-80's
I went into defense contracting winding up at General Dynamics building
nuclear submarines. With Clinton coming into office and my livelihood
looking less than stellar I moved onto law school in Concord NH with the
sole purpose of becoming a patent attorney. Since then I have been at my
own firm in Boston and Nashua NH and a couple of corporations in the
greater Atlanta metro area. By many people's perspectives I would be
viewed as a success, but, it all feels so empty to me. I still want to
be a forest ranger/lumberjack/blacksmith. I still get a rush when I go
to Williamsburg or any living history museum. I've brewed much of my own
beer since 1979 and (poorly) grow some vegetables, I cook most of my
food from scratch using my Griswold cast iron when I can. I have so many
of the books we all discuss regarding the tools, traditional
woodworking, blacksmithing, etc. and I have watched many episodes of
Saint Roy. They say you can tell much of a man by his library - I guess
that makes me an armchair, wannabe forest
ranger/lumberjack/blacksmith/brewer.

That's a pretty good summary of who I am and how I got here. It would be
unfair not to attribute some of this to blood and my Dad as he
introduced me to whittling, welding, metalworking, forestry, and local
history such as the old RI towns and taverns as well as the lesser known
conflicts like King Philip's War which took place where I grew up. And
it was he who told me stories about his father (the bootlegger) and
their ancestors (the lumberjacks descended from Penobscot Indians from
northern Maine and Quebec). So how does this journey continue? I don't
honestly know but my interests remain strong in bladesmithing,
toolsmithing, the smelting of iron from ore, traditional and green
woodworking, making of windsor chairs, boat building, and of course all
things Roy Underhill. My biggest goal is to break away from just
reading...and actually doing. If I cannot pass on the knowledge to my
girls I want to pass on the things that I build with my hands. I will
start by working on my own b ut I must commit the time to attending some
of the hands-on classes, seminars, and galoot get-togethers that occur.

To those of you who I have met I feel a kindred spirit. As we each
continue our respective journeys I hope to see you again and to
personally meet many more of you throughout the years.

Scott Garrison Duluth GA
------------------------------------------------------------------------