The Martha Show in July

It has been summer hot here in the Hudson Valley and yesterday I was doing some woodwork, sanding a nice small piece of western bigleaf maple, and took a break for awhile. I tuned in to the Martha Show, which comes on at 1 p.m. here, and there I was, on TV, sanding that S. American mahogany bowl that I made for the Martha segment. Imagine my surprise ! Especially as I had actually only seen the segment twice. Was it a dream? No, a re-run !
Then a phone call from Karen in Oak Park, Ill., came in, and then the emails started popping, and my quiet, sultry, too-hot-to-sand anyway July day and evening turned busy. And I had to help a friend paint some interior rooms of a house nearby, even in the heat.
I am trying this time to answer emails promptly. Last time, in January, when that Show originally aired, I wasn't handy with a new email system, and I didn't even NOTICE about 50 emails until a week or 2 had already passed. I felt badly about that... I think I should be prompt in replying to folks who took the time to contact me, for whatever reason. If Martha was generous and gracious enough to have this average guy (me) on the Show, even if I do make unaverage bowls, I think I should make every effort to respond in kind to her viewers. Don't you? And, I really do appreciate the nice things most folks have to say about my work.
Being on the Martha Show was a high point in my life, no doubt. Everyone, before, during, and after, was very nice, and totally professional, and I enjoyed the time with them. I wish I could have had a bit more time just chatting with Martha, we have some common interests, but during a morning of shooting a live TV show, she obviously doesn't have a lot of time for idle chitchat. One of her original producers, Leslie McNeil, is a neighbor of mine here in Rhinebeck, and I never had a chance to mention it.
So thanks, Martha !! It was great to be on the re-run !! And thanks to everyone who saw it for the first time and got in touch with me. I am working on a whole series of very cool Western bigleaf maple bowls, from dozens of blocks that my woodworking brother, Sebastian Eggert, of Port Townsend, Washington, sent me a few months ago, and I am trying to make them reasonably priced and affordable to average folks like me, even in a tough economy.