Hidden treasures

At some point in every project I make, I include something personal that, most likely, no one will ever see.

I’ve mentioned before that I like to personalize projects in out-of-the way spots. This can include anything from simply signing the work somewhere, to including small objects squirreled away in hidden nooks. That many, if not most, of these will never be seen just doesn’t matter to me. It’s the fun of doing it I enjoy.

In fact, discovering most of these personal touches would typically require partially dismantling the project in some way or, in some cases, outright demolishing it. A case in point is the wall and doorway I just framed out that will separate my wife’s glass workshop from my woodshop’s storage room.

Little messages, a plain signature or, as in this case, current time and weather conditions are among my typical hidden touches. For this one, those little spaces between the cripples at the top of the door are just perfect for stashing something. Maybe a rolled-up newspaper. Maybe an empty beer can. Or maybe a dead mouse. (Of the computer variety, that is – I had to get a new mouse this week and haven’t tossed out the broken one yet.) Maybe all three. I’m sure I’ll think of something.

The point is that once I install the door and hang drywall on both sides of that new wall, whatever I’ve left inside won’t see the light of day until some point down the road when that wall is torn out. If that never happens, I’m fine with that. If it does, then perhaps some future person will get as much a kick out of finding it as I did hiding it there.