When she called me and asked if I would like to take this off her hands, I said yes in a clam manner although on the inside i almost made a mess of myself. My wife and I have been looking for a piece to go in this section of our kitchen for a while but never found the perfect accoutrement.
It weighs almost 500 pounds and is about 120 years old. There are indention's in the block from where over time it had worn away from cut after cut after cut.
My only thought is when I look at it, I think to myself I wish it could talk. The stories that it would tell.
You see i think that in a time that we are so consumed with all that is new, its nice to reflect on something that has a history older than yourself. When I look at this block it is not just a block but someones love, sweat and tears. Not only in the craftsmanship but in the fact for at least two families it brought money to them so that they could survive. The man who made the block slaved over the making of the beast. Each piece of wood in the block is about 2x2. Each block is dovetailed one end being male and one being female. All being joined together like a huge jigsaw puzzle.
The second family to make a dollar on this block is the butcher that the piece went to. I can only imagine the countless legs of Spanish jamon had been fabricated on the wood. How many pounds of chorizo had been cut and wrapped on there. All the stories of everyone who went in to the shop to buy meat to take home to feed there family's. All the stories that were shared around this beautiful piece of art. How much money had exchanged hands in front of the block.
Where did it go after Spain? How many families enjoyed food prepared from this? How many cries, laughs, pain, joy and love did this old tree endure?
All i know is from this point on, in my house it will have some great stories when it leaves!
Only if this block could talk.
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