A day in the life of a woodworker:

It’s closing time in my shop. I sweep the shavings and saw dust from the floor and put it in a bin in the corner. I leave the shop, lock the door, and head home. I pass my customers as I walk down the dark streets of colonial Williamsburg. Now there are only a few lights in the shops.  I turn the corner and walk up to my little house. There are candles lit on the table. My wife is cooking at the fire. I can smell the sweet corn bread coming from the open window. I can see the light on upstairs; my 2 year old son must be up there sleeping, I walk in the warm house. I go up stairs and see my son sleeping in the cradle I made for him. He is covered with a warm quilt I bought him from the weaver. I go back down stairs and my dog is sitting in a corner by the fire. Then she sees me. She gets up and jumps on me. I give her a bone, and a piece of beef that we had for her. I sat next to my wife by the fire. She tells me about her day and then asks me about mine. I tell her about my customers and what they bought. We eat dinner and sit by the fire, and when we are done we go to sleep.

I wake up at 6:00 in the morning. I wash up and get dressed. By the time I am done with my daily ritual it is 6:15. I walk down the dark streets. There are some lights on in the shops. I walk to my shop, unlock the door, and walk in. It is dark again and the sun is not up yet. I soak glue in a bucket and put it in the glue pot. I look around to make sure nothing got stolen. By the time I am ready it is 7:00 am, and the sun is starting to rise. I start making molding. At 7:30 I finish two moldings (one base and one crown.) Then I realize that my apprentice is late. The sun is up and my first customer is in the shop.  He is telling me about the latest news. When he left it was 7:50 am, and my apprentice was just walking up to the shop. He walked in the shop and told me that his mother was having her baby this morning, and he had to help his father get the room together for the new child. I know about the baby girl, so I want to make her a cradle to sleep in. I cut the pieces of wood to size, then chisel and cut some more. After I am done adjusting the pieces I assemble them together and used wooden pegs to hold it together. I paint it a light pink and set it aside to dry. It is12 noon and I am getting hungry. I take out my lunch that I brought with me. I eat chicken with a cup of ale. I start a window sash, and a door frame. I use the plane that I use to make molding to make the door frame. Then I use another plane to make the window sash. After I am done making the parts I use more wooden pegs to hold them together. It is almost time to close up the shop for the night. I show my apprentice the cradle I made for his little sister. He loves it. He leaves the shop with the cradle under his arm.  I leave the shop and start to walk home. Then I see the apothecary. She is rushing down the street and turns onto the road I live on. I think to myself that it must be my neighbor. I walk up to my house and I see the apothecary upstairs with my wife. I walk in and I heard my son crying upstairs where the apothecary is. My wife ran down stairs and told me that my son is very ill with a high fever. I rush upstairs and my son was throwing up. The apothecary told me that he was going to die.

The day he died is a dark and rainy day. No one is outside. I decide not to open up my shop today. My wife is devastated. She wouldn’t leave bed. I am sitting by the window with my dog sitting next to me. I stroke her soft fur. I could tell she is upset as well. As the day goes by the sky gets darker and the rain gets stronger. I give my wife left overs and eat them with her. We both go to bed early. The night keeps going on and on. The night finally ended when I heard my dog barking. I slowly get out of bed and I go down stairs. I look out the window, it was still dark out. But in the distance there was a glowing light where the governors palace is. I open the window to get some fresh air. Then I smell smoke, and I hear people yelling. There are people rushing down the street with buckets of water. It takes me a while to register What was happening, Then it hits me, The governors palace is on fire. I rush to put my shoes on.I don’t change my clothes. I start to rush out to help people with the buckets of water when my dog starts to follow me. I tell her “no Betsy its very dangerous.” I walk out of the door very slowly and close it behind me. As I rush down the dark streets I hear screams and yells. I am terrified that the building is going to collapse and that the fire is going to spread. The people make a very long line, we pass the buckets of water down the live very quickly without spilling a drop. After a while the fire has died down, people started to go home. I went home and went to bed for a while, then it is 6:00, I wake up and get dressed. I wash up, put my shoes on, and head out the door. I walk to my shop, and walk in. It smells of smoke. I open a window to get the smell out. I sweep the floor, and get my day started to work, my apprentice is on time today, he is slowly walking up to my shop. He is half asleep. He slowly opened the door, and walked in with heavy steps.  He was at the site of the fire as well.