Dad's Crutch Chair

Dad's Crutch Chair
Originally uploaded by Miss Lou Smith

Who says that creativity doesn't run in the family? Well, nobody acutally but I thought this was adorable.

I occasionally felt a slight disconnect from my dad, he just seems a little wierd. If you ask him how he is, his explanation could go into a long technical explanation of how tubes need to fit correctly when building the fuselage of a home-built airplane (yes these are more common than you think), and how to achieve this tight fit.

You ask him how to do your calculus homework, and he doesn't really tell you how to get to the answer, but more why the answer should be what it is, which is inevitably a much longer story than just the process itself.

But in the past couple years, since I decided to study product design I have been basking in the genes that I have inherited from him, because he thinks about things complexly, and creatively.

When he broke his foot a couple years ago hiking, and then had another foot problem with his heal that kept him in a cast for more than a year straight, he had all sorts of cute inventions to get along with his foot, and crutches. When buying a fountain drink at the gas station he would ask for a bag, put the cup upright in the bag an tie a knot at the top, giving his cup "handles" so he could hold it and the crutches simultaneously without a spill.

At an airshow a couple years ago he concocted this chair from his crutches since he forgot to bring a chair along (and I get the feeling he used this more than once while being dragged around town with my mom, and tired of standing on his cast.)

So dad, I salute you and your creativity, and thanks for the genes!