Amber Across America (AAA) – A Fitting Tribute To Ivoryman

[QTCut5]

Can't wait to see the potato patina on the coping blade

[BuckSharp]

Glad to pop in and check on the whereabouts of Amber as it’s been a while since I last checked. I see she’s had some great experiences and is now in the Great Cheese State. Like Bryan, I could go for a large cup of those French fries! Hope y’all have a great rest of the weekend…looking forward to more of Amber’s adventures!

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

There was storms and rain in the area yesterday. We didn't press go and cook potatoes. Just showed up, surveyed the situation, and made the decision to tear down and head home. We had just bought 60 pounds of potatoes, but the only thing worse than losing out on that money is working all day and still losing out on that money. An old co worker and friend of mine used to say that your first loss is your best loss. A simple way to say that sometimes you shouldn't fight it and just take it on the chin and move on.

I had brought Amber thinking it would be slow and I'd have a chance to take some pictures. That wasn't quite the case, but I did snap a picture as I was getting my stack of stainless packed up, one as I was eating some wild berry pie and one final picture from inside my tent next to a mutant potato I found in the box on day one that I named Spuddy and displayed proudly on my prep table for the duration of the event.

[QTCut5]

Spuddy rocks!!

[knifeaddict1965]

There was storms and rain in the area yesterday. We didn't press go and cook potatoes. Just showed up, surveyed the situation, and made the decision to tear down and head home. We had just bought 60 pounds of potatoes, but the only thing worse than losing out on that money is working all day and still losing out on that money. An old co worker and friend of mine used to say that your first loss is your best loss. A simple way to say that sometimes you shouldn't fight it and just take it on the chin and move on.

I had brought Amber thinking it would be slow and I'd have a chance to take some pictures. That wasn't quite the case, but I did snap a picture as I was getting my stack of stainless packed up, one as I was eating some wild berry pie and one final picture from inside my tent next to a mutant potato I found in the box on day one that I named Spuddy and displayed proudly on my prep table for the duration of the event.

Great shots and cool spud, Zach! Looks like you're taking great care of Amber and trying to keep her busy.
Sorry to hear you got rained out yesterday. Hope you can use all those potatoes at another event soon, and If not, I hope your family loves potatoes.

[glennbad]

Great pics! Too bad spuddy couldn't travel around with Amber...now that WOULD be quite the pair!

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

Hope you can use all those potatoes at another event soon, and If not, I hope your family loves potatoes.

Do you remember Bubba, from Forrest Gump, with his listing off of everything you can do with shrimp? I feel like that with potatoes sometimes. It was only about 25 dollars in potatoes, we give away as many bags as we can, usually get stuck with 20 pounds. We can eat through half of that maybe then compost the rest.

Here's Amber in an infamous grill shot
I decided I probably shouldn't with Amber without proper written consent from the rest of the group, but these pillowy cheesey smokey twice baked (well once baked once grilled) potatoes offered up such a perfect canvas. They were riding slow on the cool side of the grill while I had wood chips in a foil packet on the hot side, so the risk of roasting her was minimal (though not zero ). The flames are "prop" flames. I hit the heat diffusers beneath the grates with a quick spray of oil. It ignites, smokes, and actually helps keep everything clean and non stick. And it looks cool

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

Great pics! Too bad spuddy couldn't travel around with Amber...now that WOULD be quite the pair!

It could help with disguising the package contents in the mail. For example on the shipping form when it asks what are you shipping? I could answer "a large sentimental mutant potato and small knife". Though, the cost of shipping Spuddy

[Corn Creek Cutlery]

Zach is that some of those famous Wisconsin cheese curds in the potatoes? Making me hungry!

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

Zach is that some of those famous Wisconsin cheese curds in the potatoes? Making me hungry!

It's shreds of a 4 year white cheddar

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

I brought amber with to wait out my sons appointment appointment again today. This little slice of nature next to the parking lot usually offers some decent background and props for pictures. It started raining again, but not before I spied an unusual sight and snapped a few photos.

These milkweed have been a subject of interest in the past as they have been host to monarchs. Now they appear to be under attack from an alien army of the rowdiest proportions I've ever seen. I thought it was some type of fungus until i saw them moving. Aphids.

I brought this other little Camco with for the photo shoot. It's a favorite 5th pocket carry of mine. It was given to me by the man himself, mr glennbad. I found this community when I was at a pretty tough point in my life, and it's really helped me cope and get through. This knife is emblematic of the support and friendship I've found here.

For those who may not know, my twins are genetically identical, but medically different. One has cerebral palsy, and is about 30% smaller than his twin. Maybe it's because of this, but I don't feel complete unless I carry "a big and a little" knife.

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

I went to the state fair on Friday, but didn't bring amber along. The security is pretty weak, but they do make you walk through a metal detector. Instead, Amber got to experience living the life of a delivery driver.

It's a unique job for a unique business. The pizzas I deliver are frozen. Weird, right? Pizzas are pre-ordered online through out the week. The store is open for pickup on saturday from 10 to 4. Any pizzas not pre-sold are available for in-store purchase. Orders which are slated for delivery are routed on Fridays, so on Friday I know what my weekend routes will look like. Yesterday I had 20 stops over about 130 miles delivering around 150 pizzas. The pizzas are what you'd call "artisan". Weird, right? They're all made right on a family farm with high-quality ingredients, most sourced locally. Everything about the business is unique, which is probably why it works.

Here's Amber and my tiny-t with the caffeinated beverage of choice for those seeking adventure and/or a cardiac event.

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

My wife went back to school yesterday. Well, work. She works at the school and summer break is over. My boys and I went to the park.

Something was bugging me. Felt like crawling out of my skin. Weird.

Then I saw some cool tree fungus.

The little Kabar is another knife in my ancestor series, this one coming from the same man who once owned the ebony pen I posted earlier. Diedrich Rehfinger was his name. He was a barber in Germany before the war. He came here before it's outbreak and found work as a butcher. I now have a handful of his knives, a razor and some scissors. I never knew him but feel a spiritual kinship with him, like we're from the same tribe.

[QTCut5]

Fascinating stuff, Zach I have always tried not to become emotionally attached to any of my knives because, in the end, they are just material things. Nevertheless, despite my detached, unsentimental pragmatism, I find it impossible not to feel a sense of emotional and/or spiritual connection with certain of my knives. In Hawaiian culture, mana is an invisible, sacred spiritual energy and life force that exists within all things, including people, places, and objects. It is generally believed that a person's possessions (and bones after death) contain their mana. As Amber makes her journey from caretaker to caretaker, I believe she is absorbing a portion of each one's mana.

Great photos.....love 'em.....keep 'em coming

[Corn Creek Cutlery]

My wife went back to school yesterday. Well, work. She works at the school and summer break is over. My boys and I went to the park.

Something was bugging me. Felt like crawling out of my skin. Weird.

Then I saw some cool tree fungus.

The little Kabar is another knife in my ancestor series, this one coming from the same man who once owned the ebony pen I posted earlier. Diedrich Rehfinger was his name. He was a barber in Germany before the war. He came here before it's outbreak and found work as a butcher. I now have a handful of his knives, a razor and some scissors. I never knew him but feel a spiritual kinship with him, like we're from the same tribe.

Excellent photos Zach ... detailed and natural!

[Corn Creek Cutlery]

Fascinating stuff, Zach I have always tried not to become emotionally attached to any of my knives because, in the end, they are just material things. Nevertheless, despite my detached, unsentimental pragmatism, I find it impossible not to feel a sense of emotional and/or spiritual connection with certain of my knives. In Hawaiian culture, mana is an invisible, sacred spiritual energy and life force that exists within all things, including people, places, and objects. It is generally believed that a person's possessions (and bones after death) contain their mana. As Amber makes her journey from caretaker to caretaker, I believe she is absorbing a portion of each one's mana.

Great photos.....love 'em.....keep 'em coming

'Q' ... if only Amber could talk.

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

I brought these outside this afternoon as I was watching my boys. There was more intervention required than usual to sort out sibling differences. There was mud, tears and blood. Like usual, but just sooner and more frequent, so the pictures were a bit rushed and I was somewhat distracted, I even put a filter on one of them . My boys are actually well behaved young men, but the 5 to 7 age range plays hard, and mine are....inventive. Big ideas backfire hard sometimes
Any who, here's Amber with a cousin of her's. It's the nicest little Schrade. A Jeffin Redux that I purchased from Ivoryman's collection. I did my best to replicate the signature patina on the main. It's ok, but mine is one dimensional and flat. The master made his swirl and dance with hues of red and blue like fiery pearl but in carbon steel. Truly an art.

[1967redrider]

Cool pictures, TWKG! I really like that Cicada morphing series. Once they're adults, they're noisy little buggers.

[bestgear]

Amber with a cousin of her's. It's the nicest little Schrade

the definition of full-circle - I’m sure Ivoryman would be pleased to know his legacy lives on! Well played Zach.

[QTCut5]

Amber with a cousin of her's.

Good to see Amber getting to know her cousin Very apropos, too, as Ivoryman was a dedicated "family man". As many of you may recall, Brian and his family attended a big reunion of all their relatives in Alberta, Canada every year. It was a huge annual event that he looked forward to every summer. He was popular for being the uncle who always brought knives to give to his numerous nieces and nephews:

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... n#p1083020

He documented some of those family gatherings in photos that he posted in the pages of AAPK:

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... a#p1088892

[rea1eye]

. It is generally believed that a person's possessions (and bones after death) contain their mana. As Amber makes her journey from caretaker to caretaker, I believe she is absorbing a portion of each one's mana.

I am hoping a bunch of mana gets put on that knife. Who ever handles it before its final destination needs
to give it a little extra.

Bob

[rea1eye]

My wife went back to school yesterday. Well, work. She works at the school and summer break is over. My boys and I went to the park.

Something was bugging me. Felt like crawling out of my skin. Weird.

Then I saw some cool tree fungus.

The little Kabar is another knife in my ancestor series, this one coming from the same man who once owned the ebony pen I posted earlier. Diedrich Rehfinger was his name. He was a barber in Germany before the war. He came here before it's outbreak and found work as a butcher. I now have a handful of his knives, a razor and some scissors. I never knew him but feel a spiritual kinship with him, like we're from the same tribe.

That photography is Class A good!

Bob

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

Amber with a cousin of her's.

Good to see Amber getting to know her cousin Very apropos, too, as Ivoryman was a dedicated "family man". As many of you may recall, Brian and his family attended a big reunion of all their relatives in Alberta, Canada every year. It was a huge annual event that he looked forward to every summer. He was popular for being the uncle who always brought knives to give to his numerous nieces and nephews:

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... n#p1083020

He documented some of those family gatherings in photos that he posted in the pages of AAPK:

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... a#p1088892

Coincidentally, I'm also the knife uncle. I'm the youngest of 5 siblings. I have 11 nieces and nephews. 5 have knives from me already, 2 are too young yet, and 4 I haven't been able to see for several years. I've also gifted knives to all 4 of my in-laws, my own parents, and many high-school friends when seeing them at functions with years between, like weddings. I don't usually hand out knives quite as nice as Brian did though.

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

Amber rode along today on my family's annual trip to our favorite orchard's opening day. We'll go to many different orchards to pick apples this season, but we'll go back to this one a half a dozen different times. We picked 3 pecks today, mostly Early Golds with a few Paula Reds to finish off each peck. We bought an additional peck of Zestars in-store, as well as some baked goods and caramel apples. Early golds are some of my favorite snacking apples, and they make good sauce once they get soft, which is quick. They are notorious for their short shelf life. The Paula Reds are particularly good this year. We usually skip them entirely in favor of the golds, but we were enticed into a few pounds. We will wait until later in the season for cider. It's an orchard blend made on site, so the mid fall production tastes sweeter.

[LKSKNIVES]

Sounds like wonderful Family time Zach
The pictures are great as well.
Steve