Michael worked his way down from the treetops with a chainsaw hanging from his belt to owning a company (Ponderosa Millworks) that repurposes urban trees, making uniquely gorgeous tables, chairs, bars, countertops, etc. But he’s so much more than a businessman. Michael is a guy who GETS THINGS DONE. He’s got tremendous energy and a tremendously generous spirit. He’s a lovely man, teaching us all better ways to interact with each other and the other living things around us. (Photo)
Check out some of Ponderosa Millworks’ creations on Instagram.
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Music: “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range; “Fuzzy Freaky,” by David Byrne; “Smoke Alarm,” by Carsie Blanton.
I liked this conversation with Michael. As an industrial designer, one gets to have a deep appreciation of wood, possibly the very first material we humans learned to shape to our needs.
I also liked what you said about discarded trees given a second life as a chair or a table. It reminded me of something I read some time ago about the life of Japanese designer Kenji Ekuan, who passed away in 2015. Before he studied Design he was a Buddhist monk and witnessed the devastation caused by the Hiroshima bomb in 1945. He said that in the aftermath he could ‘hear’ the voices of streetcars, bicycles and other mangled objects, crying over the fact they didn’t get the chance to be used more. Something to think about in our age of instantly discardeable objects.