The Rolling Carpenter

Husband's mother is not fond of driving on highways, so it has become a "tradition" for us to drive to the city to take her to doctor appointments. And so it was, we happened to be in Rochester.

While waiting for my mother-inlaw, Husband decided to park in a large parking lot not too far away from the doctor's office. He chose a Home Depot lot. As we were driving, I saw a curious sight...a man walking with what looked like a homemade shopping cart down the sidewalk parallel to the road.

As we were sitting in a far corner of the lot, the man I had previously seen came walking along with his cart. He had apparently purchased two long boards at the Home Depot and I watched in amazement as he worked.

The two boards were "mounted" to the front of his cart, standing vertically; he had placed them there using wood clamps. When he arrived to the parking lot worksite, he removed the boards and then reached into the "bowels" of his cart and pulled out a handsaw, tape measure, and pencil. He went right to work, measuring the boards. He then clamped them onto the bench part of the cart, once again using the clamps to steady the boards while he quickly sawed through them with the handsaw.

We had to leave shortly after the cuts were made, but I watched as he pulled sandpaper from the "mobile workshop" and smoothed the edges he had cut. Husband noted that it looked as though he also had painting supplies with him and I even saw him pull out a roll of paper towels!

This fellow worked, totally unimpeded or interrupted by the traffic (on a very busy street) or people surrounding him. Husband speculated he might live in a nearby apartment where woodworking might be impossible. Thus, one lovely and very interesting capentry "a la carte"!