Elephant DNA

Linda Burton posting from Salem, Oregon – Arturo was chopping on the block in his red official carver’s apron. “Don’t you need goggles?” I asked. “Not with chunks this big,” Arturo laughed. “But yes, if I’m using the bandsaw.” I’m standing in the Carving Room at the Salem Riverfront Carousel, a room that is crowded at the moment with volunteers, carving tools, chunks of wood, and detailed drawings of elephants and frogs. I’d found the place by accident; Olessya had brought her siblings to ride the carousel; when I asked for directions to the place she told me there was carving going on today. “Go to the second door,” she said. Irene opened the door and let me in. “The carousel animals are hand-carved,” she explained, “all by volunteers. Right now we’re carving new animals, so we can change them out each month. We’ll have special ones throughout the seasons, too. That way there will always be something new.” A would-be elephant took up the center of the room, that’s what Arturo was working on today. “So this will be an elephant?” I rubbed my hand against the wood. “It doesn’t smell like an elephant, or look like much of one either, right now. It doesn’t even have a trunk.” » read more