Renaissance Man

Lately I have not been doing much fishing.  For anyone that watches the weather you have no doubt seen the massive amount of rain we have had here in the southeast.  The rivers are all blown out and without a boat I find that lake fishing is tough to do with a fly rod.  So with my rod hung up for the time being I have been focusing my free time to becoming somewhat of a renaissance man.
For those of you that don't know what a Renaissance Man is:

Renaissance man

noun

1.

a cultured man of the Renaissance who was knowledgeable, educated, or proficient in a wide range of fields.

2.

( sometimes lowercase ) a present day man who has acquired profound knowledge or proficiency in more than one field.

I don't think I have ever been described as 'cultured' but I do share a desire to be proficient at a wide range of fields.  Old Leonardo da Vinci is a crowning example of a Renaissance man.  Old Leo was truly a master of many talents.  I will never achieve this stature but it sure is a goal more people should strive for.
 Some time ago I received an old wood lathe and I have just recently decided to make use of it.  The chess pieces you see as the lead image for this post are just a few examples of my first attempts at figuring out how to use this piece of equipment.  None of them match but they will serve as good starting points to put together a great chess set.  I have not decided what wood to make the set out of yet but rest assured that I will post the final product for all to see.  The pieces you see here are a made from a motley collection oak, poplar, and a dogwood tree I cut back this winter.

 Using the dogwood firewood I also created a nice wood working mallet.  I was surprised at how beautiful this wood was once it was lathed down to bare wood.  Starched white and laced with red pigments I was almost ashamed to use it as fire wood.  With a few more pieces still on the pile outside my garage I hope I can find a few uses for it.