A man in the training station waiting room blows his nose with a handkerchief. He's trying to think of the name of the film starring Jim Carey in which everything is artificial. I want to say The Truman Show. The man he's speaking to says he doesn't think it's the sort of film he'd watch. Maybe it's a trick question because every film is artificial. He uses the word salubrious to describe Oxford Station. I have to look the word up. I've never been so I'm looking forward to a fully salubrious experience. If I ever used that word in a conversation, I think I would take my time over it. Spend at least three times longer saying the word salubrious than I would another word of the same length. Sal-uuuuu-bri-ooous. It seems correct to say it like that. Like saying Wales in a Welsh accent. Way-ells. Or Newcastle with the castle spoken quickly and given much more emphasis than a southerner would give it: new-CASTLE. A woman is warming her face in the rising sun. She faces east. I work out that the train will arrive from the other direction because I'm catching an eastbound train. Oxford will be our vicar who always faces west as his passengers/parishioners all face east. A church congregation always faces a rising sun. Cloisters to their left/north, main entrance to their right (south). When I'm working out my compass points, I always imagine myself in a church. I've boarded the train. The lady sat across from me is reading What a Hazard a Letter is by Caroline Atkins. She's underlining things. I Google the book. The title comes from an Emily Dickinson poem. My copy of her complete works spans 770 pages. The book is over two inches thick and yet there are only two known photographs of the great American poet. I often wonder how many people got to see Dickinson smile.
Life-living letter carver, carve me a letter crisp on my headstone and fill it with wonder I'd like to carve it, but you would do better, for you stand above this earth and I am laid under. - Tom Wiggins My new letter carving workshop is now open for business. Taking bespoke commissions such as memorials (including headstones and cremation tablets), opening plaques and heraldry. If you're looking for fine hand-carved lettering designed and carved by a fully trained stonemason and letter carver, please get in touch. I'd be very happy to talk you through the process from design stage right through to installation. Telephone: 07791969667 E-mail: tomwiggins86@gmail.com Website: www.tomwiggins.co.uk A bit about me: Born and raised in Gloucester, I now live and work as a letter carver in the beautiful market town of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. My journey in stone began in 2013 with a three-year Diploma in Stonemasonry at The City of Bath College. Th...
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