Working For a Living
by Jonathan Dean
I, Richard Capwell Dean, love to build. I was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, on February 20, 1950. I am the second oldest of four siblings. In a house of four kids tensions were high all the time. I got through this by keeping myself busy. Whenever I felt down or bored I started a project. From a young age I knew I liked woodworking and building and “wood” continue that passion throughout my life.
When I was little I was fascinated with sailing ships, and I still am! One ship in particular was one of my grandfather’s models. The wooden galleon sat stoically in the middle of his living room. It’s tattered copper sails showed signs of past adventures, but it’s shining hull showed that its spirit had not faded. I spent hours gazing with awe at this vessel. The construction of the ship was awe inspiring and helped solidify my love of building. My grandfather took note of this. Before I moved to New Hampshire he offered me the ship telling me to, “Let it bring the same joy to your grandchildren that it brought you.” To this day that ship still sits in my room. As with tradition I have offered it to my grandson as he has that same passion for ships as I once had.
Sometimes you have to sail to new adventures and moving house is always an adventure. Everything from finding a house to moving your stuff from one place to another. When I moved with my wife and parents from Warwick, Rhode Island, to Jefferson, New Hampshire, back in '70 I needed my own place. Over the next two years my father and I built a two story house next door to my parent’s place. This was my first big experience with building. From here I would continue to build new projects on my land, building my own utopia.
A few years back I built a gazebo by the river at my house. I built the gazebo to relax by the river whenever life got too stressful. Whenever I want I can just walk down there with my springer spaniel and relax on the swinging bench hidden in the shade of the gazebo. I love to relax in nature.
A couple years ago I built a cabin in the woods at my house that sometimes I go spend the night in. I love to improve the life around my house even if it involves breaking my back.
I absolutely love the projects I involve myself in. A few days ago I installed a new door on my woodshed. Any normal person would have installed the door so that it opened to the side. I, on the other hand, I decided I wanted to go the extra mile. I built a ten by eight rectangular door that opens vertically. My door sits on two hinges at the very top and swings upward and outward. On the bottom of the door a long two by four sits connected to a pulley so that when I loosen the pulley the block of wood slides down and holds the door aloft like a canopy. Why settle when you can really wow your audience?
Even though I’m 69 now I still haven’t slowed down. Every project is a new challenge on the sea of life, and my copper sails are still full of wind. This summer I plan to dig out and restore a small old pond next to my house. A year ago I bought a mini excavator that I use to do everything from hopefully digging out ponds to holding tree trunks up for me to cut wood from. Next summer I also plan to build a small sawmill to cut my own wood for building. Even today I’m still coming up with new ideas for my property. I’ve built a lot in my life so far, and I’m not even halfway done.