I can dance! Okay, not really. I mean, I used to be able to cut a few moves when I was younger, since I am a musician, after all, but with this whole aging thing, plus the addition of having XLH, my moves are not very cool looking. I have very good rhythm from the waist up, but my lower half can’t bust any moves, and if I try, well, it’s not pretty. It leans more towards being comical. It’s a shame, too, since I do have good rhythm, and all.
I have recently figured out a way around that. I play in a music group and we now have a percussionist on occasion and when we play in retirement homes, we’ve been bringing out the handmade limberjack cat that I’ve had for probably 15 years or so. I became concerned that the cat was a little too special to cart around to these gigs, and decided that what we really needed was a limberjack dog. If you don’t know what a limberjack is, check out my video of Corky, the Limberjack Dog that I made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zpa7KRIcRQ
Being somewhat obsessive in nature, I decided that I just couldn’t stop with making only one limberjack. So, I felt like I needed to make a Limberjack Chicken, to dance to “Cluck Old Hen.” Now, this chicken can REALLY bust a few moves! She throws in a little tap dancing, too. I admire her fancy footwork.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8A8plyxSBI
I have a confession to make, too. I have watched these videos several times. I have always loved watching people dance; even ballet thrills me. Maybe there’s a touch of envy, too, when I watch others dance, but really, I am just fascinated by the strength and agility that it takes to be a good dancer. I even like watching ballet. I think good dancing is really fun to watch. Watching my limberjacks dance on the videos gives me a similar feeling, with a little comedy thrown in, because I KNOW there’s no way any of God’s creatures could do what those crazy limberjack dolls do.
When I posted my limberjack dog and my limberjack chicken videos, I had a few friends who enjoyed them so much, they wanted me to make one for them. Now, I can tell you that this is not a business I want to start. You can buy a homemade limberjack for $30-$40 online, plus shipping, and I don’t know how in the world people can charge so LITTLE for making those things. Maybe I’m just slow in the shop—it did take a little longer for me, of course, since I had to draw my own designs, but still—it’s not a money-making operation!
So, here’s what I’m doing, instead. I am offering my detailed woodworking plans (with the drawing of the dog and the chicken) along with photographs so that you can make your own limberjack dog or chicken. Maybe you can’t dance due to physical challenges, but your hands still work, so you can give these a try. If you know a woodworker (they don’t have to be very advanced—I’m not!) then ask them to make one for you. Perhaps you know a physical therapist or someone who works in music therapy with kids or adults who can use one of these, too. I’m not charging for my plans but I am making a request: if you’re a woodworker, make two of them—one to keep and one to give to someone who might not otherwise be able to dance or who works with kids or adults with physical disabilities. I showed the videos to my physical therapist friend and she asked me to come do a “show” for some of the physically challenged kids that she works with. Kids love these. As a matter of fact, adults love these. Now, maybe you don’t know of someone that you can give one of these to. So, if you want my woodworking plans, then please consider making a minimum $5 donation (that’s about the cost of a set of easy woodworking plans these days) to XLH Network, which can be found via the internet at www.xlhnetwork.org. Many XLH-er’s have either never been able to dance or perhaps, like me, they know their dancing days are over, at least from the waist down. Your contribution is tax-deductible.
How to request the plans: I am hesitant to post my email address on a blog, due to the prevalence of spammers, so here’s my idea. You can send me your email address in a comment to this blog. I will copy the email address and send you the plans (in a Word document for the instructions and a pdf. file of the drawings) but will not “approve” your comment (if it has your email address in it) to be published in my blog. If you want to make a comment to my post, like, “Cool! Love the chicken!” then you can send that comment separately from your request with the email. The nice comment will be “approved” and shown on the blog, but I’m not going to let your email address be shown. Those spammers…they are annoying, aren’t they???
Just so you know—I am now working on a cow and a rooster. The music is still playing so why stop with two dancing limberjacks?
banjogrrldiaries 