LML and I went on an adventure last week. He likes to find new and cool things and completely throw himself into them. His passions are EPIC and it is so much fun to get swept up in the excitement of a new discovery. About 2 years ago he discovered high-end custom hunting knives. He’s not a knife maker nor a hunter, but he learned all about these beautiful works of art and after months of research purchased his first one. No, understand these aren’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination. They’re made in the USA and built by hand. Each one slightly unique and designed to perfection. It’s getting harder and harder to find handcrafted, lifetime warranty perfection, but he found it in these knives.
One of the other things about this group is what a community it is. The particular knife maker LML was purchasing from has three “Grind-Ins” per year. This is an opportunity for the knife enthusiast to come to the facility in northern Michigan to make their very own knives. They have been holding these events for 14 years and they’re highly in demand. We have actually been on the waiting list to attend for 18 months. They tend to book up quickly!
If you know me, hunting, guns, knives, camo … these really aren’t “my thing”. I’m much more comfortable in a dress, eating a gourmet meal and going to the symphony, so this was certainly out of my comfort zone. LML was really excited about this, so I didn’t really give it much thought other than booking hotels and plotting routes for driving. As we pulled into the facility on the first day, we’re behind a really big pickup truck and I groan. The truck had stickers on it that said “Hillary for Prison” and NRA. Oh crap. I didn’t give much thought to the demographics of the attendees. I’m very liberal, can’t stand the NRA on principle (to be clear, my issue is not with guns, but with the organization). I think the current President of the USA is an overgrown toddler doing WAAAAAYYYYYY more damage than good. I think I just landed in Trump-land and I’m likely going to lose a large part of my tongue from biting it.
The first night we’re there it’s a mixer. We don’t know anyone. They’re drinking lite American beer and many are smoking. Yep, not my crowd. I’m getting anxious, realizing I’m totally out of my element and worried that this was a big mistake. However, LML kept me calm, and we had an okay time that first time, although I was rather relieved to get back to the hotel and to my glass of wine.
Ok, Techy, time to put on your big girl panties and make this an awesome adventure. The second day we arrived early, and sat and waited for the safety talk. The doughnut I had there was the size of my head and definitely kept me full until lunch. We had our safety talk and were set loose. LML and I got split up because we wanted to do different things. I’m very much a “figure out what’s going on and do it as efficiently as possible” type of person, so I’d ask people what my next step was as I walked my knife through this process. At this event, you could do as much or as little as you were comfortable with, and I basically spent the day documenting my machete’s creation. I relaxed and started to chat with the people queuing up with me. A lovely young man from New Jersey, a nice lady from DC. We talked about knives and where we were from and I really started to enjoy myself. Out of the 86 people who attended I was the 13th (my lucky number) to finish. WOW, I wasn’t expecting that at all. The first 45 knives done got a gift card to one of their distributors. I sassily walked back to LML who was still way behind me and showed off my gift card, then handed it to him.
We had lunch with another awesome Financial Banker from Grand Rapids MI and I was really enjoying myself. I jumped back in to start my second knife so I was way ahead of schedule. As I waited for LML to finish his knife, I sat down at a table with a lovely man in his 70’s and he told me stories of the history of the local area and his childhood. I was absolutely enthralled, it was like speaking to my grandfather again (ok, without the Scottish accent and there’s NO WAY Grandpa would have been a hunter) but I truly enjoyed it. When the gentleman found out I was Canadian he very quickly went on to clarify that he thought the President was bad and hoped we didn’t all think Americans were like Trump or supported him. I was shocked, and very pleasantly surprised. I assured him that I had a number of American friends who had already clarified that for me.
Then, just when I think we’ve got this thing licked, I made the HORRENDOUS mistake of having dinner with two other Canadian attendees. They were loudmouthed and brash, saying they’d put a bullet in our Prime Minister’s head given the chance. Ok, I had walked into this event worried about the brash American rednecks and the only jerk’s I’d discovered were from my homeland. UGH.
I tried my best to avoid those men for the rest of the adventure and spend time talking to some of the other fascinating attendees. A pair of very “alternative” chicks, tattoos and piercings, who were sleeping in a Teepee and riding bikes around. Admiring the knives being created and generally enjoying myself. LML was right, as soon as I relax and start talking to people I have a really good time. Except for those two jerks from Hamilton, I hope I never see or hear them again!
