Ross Ward was a carver and a "tinkerer." He spent his whole life creating little worlds, and traveled around to fairs and carnivals in the 1960s and '70s to share them with the public. He was diagnosed at age 57 with Alzheimers Disease, but continued to carve and create until he could do it no more. Tinkertown is his legacy.
Bob and I met up with our friends Linda and Chuck to visit Tinkertown together on Friday. We got a chuckle out of this sign in the parking lot.
Some of the walls of the buildings have bottles imbedded in them, and Ross used thousands of bottles of all kinds.
Many of the displays are animated. There is a whole Wild West town complete with inhabitants, food on the tables and goods in the general store.
I enjoyed the Emmett Kelly display.
Outside we saw a medicine man's horse-drawn wagon and a car covered in coins and trinkets.
According to a nearby sign, Ross worked on the car as a substitute for being able to drive after his illness left him unable to be safe behind the wheel.
Linda and I poked along ahead of the men, going at our own pace.
Even Auggie enjoyed Tinkertown, posing for a photograph for us.
After the museum we followed Chuck and Linda to their beautiful home outside of Albuquerque, where we had a lovely visit and a great meal. Linda showed me her inkle loom that she found at a yard sale. It only has two legs and no base, and looks like it is meant to be held between the weaver's knees. A turnbuckle provides control over tension. I've never seen a loom quite like this one, although my grandfather built an inkle loom for my grandmother and used a turnbuckle for tension, so maybe the same plans were used and individualized.
Auggie and Linda's dog, Henry, had a good time playing until puppy exuberance resulted in Auggie putting his new friend in his place. He flipped Henry onto his back and told him enough was enough. Henry wasn't hurt at all but I think his feelings were!
All in all, a wonderful day with good friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment