Big Pile of Boxwood and Flutes for the 99%

[Casey Burns]

Just got back from a badly needed week in California visiting friends and family including Rod Cameron, pipe/harp maker Brian Steeger, and Kora maker Jeffrey Bodony, who was working on a new one for Grammy winning kora master Toumani Diabate. Saw my daughter in Valencia. Sorry not to stop in Eilam and Jon - I am usually way too busy down there the rare times I am in the area. And Stephan if you are reading this, we'll stop the next trip down when we hope to have Stella at puppy camp and will be allergen free. Our goldendioodle is just too freaked out by semi-trucks - especially ones with pictures of dogs on them! Kept trying to sneak her way into the front seat. When we tried having her up there she was even more freaked out. Her long distance traveling days need a pause or she needs puppy Prozac.

On the way north stopped at my primary wood supplier's and picked out a huge pile of boxwood logs for use into the hopefully distant future. Some curly stuff even. Also some Santos Rosewood (Macherium sp. or "Pau Ferro") which I have used before and like for flutes - for potential Folk Flute use. And some gorgeous blackwood that is defect free and dry as a bone. As for boxwood, the two premium grade flute sets I ordered over a month ago from Octopus in Turkey had yet to arrive and I am wondering if some Turkish postal worker used these for his woodstove instead. The logs are cheaper for me, in terms of cost, but not necessarily labor time. I'd rather get the logs. I may get more while supplies last (they aren't thanks to Taylor Guitars using this wood for inlay material).

Getting a pile of wood is great. But its not that I am getting many flute orders right now and my queue remains in the single digits, since just before I left. But an impending desire to downsize and relocate to much more geographically convenient and sunnier than here and very liveable Portland inspires me to start building a multi-month inventory of flutes while for that transition, hopefully next summer sometime. I don;t want to spend another winter here under the horrid Puget Sound Convergence Zone. Interestingly, flute orders were brisk but then grinded to a halt around Oct 20th for some reason, though I picked up enough since to keep me busy to the end of the year. Am not worried yet, as long as I have a few months of work ahead in my queue.

The holidays beckon and all of us flute makers are expecting all of the flute players to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday! Keep that GDP coming! Flutes for the 99%. Though if a 1%er decided to employ several flute makers for the next 10 years of deep recession to amass a huge collection of flutes to store in a time capsule under Apple's future campus, nobody would complain much.....

Casey

[Kirk B]

Casey,

I lived in Portland for 14 years and it's a fantastic place to live. Just remember to consider that Oregon's biggest cash crop is its citizens and at over a 9% state income tax rate you might want to consider Vancouver, WA. I can recommend a good tax man in Vancouver. There's a reason he moved across the river.

Cheers,

Kirk

[Casey Burns]

Am not afraid of Oregon's taxes and am well aware how it works, having grown up there.

I left Oregon in the late 80s to pursue a life in California near SFO and ended up falling in love with a woman who wanted to farm. So we built our own house, raised a daughter and Kingston is where we settled. Now we want and need to downsize as we approach our dotage and our daughter is out of the house (mostly). This place is too much to maintain which is physically impossible for us in our 50s and 60s (I am too busy and worn out from flute making by the time weekends approach), and crimping our style. Let me know if anyone is interested in a 2.5 acre farm one mile from the Kingston-Edmonds ferry, with soil that hasn't seen a speck of pesticide since we lived here with bearing fruit and nut trees, and a craftsman style house designed by Uilleann Pipe maker Ron Konzak, and built by us with the help of at least one other pipe maker, and several other craftsmen. Engineered by a highland piper. Has oil heated radiant floor, passive solar and wood heat. A small stream running along the west side, and good neighbors. The gardening and farming potential is huge. This was part of a well known and more or less organic Japanese farm from 1910-1966, had cows on it until we bought it. Only drawback are the pasture grasses and the blackberries. But someone savvy in organic farming and access to a small Kubota would do well here and overcome these. Big enough for chickens but not really sheep, goats etc. without outside input. We did both when my mother-in-law owned an adjacent 2.5 acres. The sheep were tasty and the goats were amusing. Fencing would be required for serious gardening or animals as the area is thick with wildlife of the cervid, canine and occasionally the ursine varieties (this last is really cool! I've encountered black bears a few times coming up my long driveway). Eagles, hawks, and other birds rarely seen in the city are common here. We have always felt safe here.

I also don't mind paying taxes and consider it a price and duty for democracy. Sales taxes up here suck and for once I'd like to not have to charge an additional 8.6% to my clients like I am required to do up here. And don't get me started on the ill conceived and poorly executed "Business and Occupation Tax". My wife, who really makes a widget (back of the book indexes) is considered offering a service. She gets taxed 1.5% of her gross income before expenses, instead of the much lower rate charged for widget makers such as myself (.484%).

And then we have people like Tim Eyman up here who would bankrupt the government by eliminating all taxes, especially ones aimed for rich people and their land yachts and water yachts, yet still expect the roads he drives on daily to remain smooth and pot hole -free. I don't get it.

Main reason for Portland is that we want to live in a place with more things happening around us than here on the west side of Pungent Sound. It is easier to get to the ocean or the mountains or the deserts from there than here. I'll miss the Sound but then I am fed up with Washington's mostly private shore lands whereas most of the salt water shore along the Oregon Coast is public property. Same with all of the "navigable" waterways (navigable by 1859 standards). I miss the trails up the Columbia Gorge, Forest and Washington Park, and in the Cascades. I have two sisters and their families still there and many old friends I have stayed in touch with. I'd like to live in a place that doesn't require a car to go everywhere interesting. Vancouver just doesn't cut it for me.

Other reasons for being in Oregon: more interesting fruit woods for flute making. Wild species like Oregon Crabapple which works like boxwood. Mountain Mahogany in SE Oregon. I'd also like to be closer to California, and already miss being there. My paleo work for the California Academy of Sciences is also sort of drawing me down there. Also, I'd be closer geographically to friends who I play Gaita with.

All this would work theoretically from Vancouver but being a 5th generation native born Oregonian, why would I even consider living in Vancouver?

Casey

[Kirk B]

Sounds like a good plan Casey. I lived in Washington Co. Oregon and I don't mind paying taxes either as long as they're put to good use. Every state has a system and they all break it down differently. Here in my county in PA (also named Washington County) the property taxes are much higher than they were in Beaverton and there's sales tax here in PA on everything but food and clothing. My local township's public school system is very good so the property taxes are being well spent.

The land you're on now sounds wonderful. I have to stick where I am for now to stay in this school district for my son who is Autistic and needs the support. Once my daughter is out of school and my son is older I'd love to move further out and get a little buffer around me. But then I'll have the same issues you're having now with trying to maintain it. The grass is always greener I guess.

Cheers,

Kirk

[paddler]

I'm glad to hear you may be moving to Portland Casey! Its a great place to live! I'm in Beaverton, which is a suburb on the west side of Portland. I look forward to meeting you when you get down here. Regarding the state income tax comment, in my opinion an income tax is a good and fair way to raise revenue - preferential to a sales tax or excessive property tax - so I like the way Oregon handles this. I think there are a lot of like minded people in Portland - especially over on the east side in the People's Republic! Any idea which part of town you might end up?

[Kirk B]

Don't get me wrong guys. The tax remark wasn't meant as a slam against Oregon, just a point of info. I love it there and if my son hadn't been diagnosed with Autism I'd still be there now. I miss it terribly.

Paddler, do you ever run into Dr. Brad Hansen at Portland State? I took a multimedia course from him years ago and did some work with him on the outside.

Cheers,

Kirk

[paddler]

I haven't run into Brad Hansen (he's in the Music Department and I'm in the Computer Science Department), but I just looked him up. He sounds like an interesting fellow. In the past I've done a fair bit of multimedia related Computer Science research, so we may have some common interests. Thanks! Jon

[Casey Burns]

Somewhere in North west of Interstate or Northeast Portland south of Sandy and east of 33rd is where we are currently browsing. Moving depends upon selling this place and as everyone knows, selling is sort of not happening anywhere now. But we refinanced recently to get rid of a balloon that would pop in 3 years, and found out that at the bottom line based on nearby short sales of lesser homes of similar size, vintage and acreage, we have at least $125K in equity. Probably more since our property isn't distressed. That is more than enough for a down payment somewhere in Portland for something reasonable.

I am sure I am not the only flute maker here in this situation. Thus, in order for us all to relocate we'll need loans. In order to do that we'll need to show steady incomes. Thus, order up flutes everybody!!!!

[Jon C.]

Maybe a 1%er from California will buy your house?

[Kirk B]

Maybe a 1%er from California will buy your house?

Nope, they've all already moved to Bend.

[Casey Burns]

The one percenters already own most of my house and many others. They are called Bankers.

[kmag]

Bravo Casey. That is the 1% we should be the most worried about.
To get the thread back to a flute based one. I will say that there is no one that can work the magic on boxwood like Casey. It is good to know that you have a supply you are happy with.

[eilam]

Casey, your place sounds beautiful. sorry we missed you, we are really very close it Valencia.......next time. e.

[s1m0n]

...we have at least $125K in equity. Probably more since our property isn't distressed. That is more than enough for a down payment somewhere in Portland for something reasonable.

And whatever you buy will also be priced in the same economic climate, so swapping houses at the bottom may not be all that different from trading at the top.

[eilam]

"And whatever you buy will also be priced in the same economic climate, so swapping houses at the bottom may not be all that different from trading at the top."
at least property tax would be a lot less.