Like most woodworkers, I feel the effects of time. That can be both good and bad.

On the bad side my joints ache, my eyes continue to get worse, and it’s getting more difficult to stand on a hard concrete floor all day. On the good side, not only do my skills continue to improve, but woodworking I’ve done in years past is getting better, too.

Take, for example, these comparison photos of a natural-edge mulberry bowl I turned a while back.

I shot the pic on the left just after completing the bowl in 2013; the one on the right was snapped earlier today. It’s amazing to see the change in the richness of the wood over the years. It was pale and unremarkable when freshly turned, but has deepened in both tone and resonance with age.

It would be nice to think that this woodworker has gotten better looking with age. But while that might not be true for me personally, it’s certainly true for my aging woodwork.