The Tool Totem

I had this crazy dream.

But first I need to back up a bit. Sonya and I were recently in Alaska where we saw many totem poles. We even watched one of the artists in the process of carving a new one. I have a new appreciation for this art form after having seen them up close.

We have also spent most of the summer remodeling the house we bought and which we are about to move into at the end of the month. Needless to say, a lot of tools have been involved.

So I had this dream that involved my sister and myself driving through an unnamed college campus looking for a place to have lunch. Don’t ask me why – the dream didn’t tell me why. She spotted a cafe that conveniently had a parking space right in front, like in those films where detectives hot on the trail of some criminal who’s just run into, say, the Empire State Building, miraculously pull into an empty spot that seems to be reserved for such emergencies. Dreams are great like that – they won’t keep you circling around the block looking for an open spot on a crowded college campus. Thanks, dream.

We park and enter the cafe, a typical college sandwich shop type of place except that it has unusually high ceilings. There is an assortment of artwork throughout the place and the one that captures my attention is the tall cylindrical tower made of of various tools all welded together. It is the most detailed part of the dream, perhaps because I am standing next to it and studying it in depth. I wish I could sketch well enough to create a picture of what this thing looked like as it was quite remarkable.

I think I am supposed to make this totem. I want to. I have no idea where to start aside from collecting the various hand tools in it. I’ll need a welder as well – but what type? Anyone know how to weld forged steel together?