Learning Patience through the Carousel

There are many benefits from wood carving as it is done at the Berkshire Carousel, but the highest benefit that I have found is what it teaches, over and above wood carving. The word patience comes to mind.

Getting a project to go from the drawing board to reality takes an immense amount of patience. I only came into the project a few weeks ago. The project has been going on for about five years. Somebody had the idea back then, and did some things to get it going; raised some money; found space; and volunteers with the desire and time to stick to the project all these years.

As I said, I am new to the project. In a small way, I have been able to see concept move closer to a reality. Starting with a drawing of horse, transferring that onto a block of wood; the block of wood was made in the shop; a block for the head, another for the neck, and a big one for the body. The tail and legs each have their own blocks too.

The blocks are drawn upon according to the main drawing, and then a variety of workers, all volunteers, go after the parts with mallets, chisels, an sand paper. It takes days and weeks to get the horse carved. Everyone works with patience because they know the result will be wonderful when finished. there is no hurry. The process cannot be rushed." Chisel this out, leave that part," the floor manager says. "Call me when you get that much done." The floor managers treat everyone with respect, and are even tempered when dealing with the both novice and expert carvers. At the end of any given day, progress is hard to detect, but several days later, there is more form and definition in the horses. The parts are put together and made to match, exactly by persistent carving and sanding. Sometimes, a separate item, like a quiver of arrows or flowers are carved separately, and added to the body block later in the project.

After the sanding that renders a smooth surface, the horse is turned over to the painters who carefully apply five or six coats of colorful paint, paying attention to the minutest details, again with the utmost of patience.

That is what a person really learns at the carousel. The carving, sanding, painting and other skills are secondary to the patience needed to create an individual horse, and the overall project.

And then I think what if: what if  I had the opportunity to do this earlier in my career as an educator, or before I became a parent. How would that have changed me as I dealt with people in their formative years?  What if I had been part of a project like this and  learned to carve, to experience patience in action? It takes a long time to raise a child, a lot of forming and chiseling, and the work is long and strenuous. The carving experience would help us learn the patience we need as we do the task of  raising children, and probably in the task of forming ourselves.
Would we ever be finished?