a lot of it.
Find someone who:
knows how to
make things.
Has stuff-
Gears, wheels, lumber.
Has a do-it-myself
mentality.
What you get is Lonnie and his amazing ice cream machine. Using old gears, new shafts, a long rubber belt, a BIG hand-cranked ice cream maker, various pieces of lumber, wheels, straps and whatever, he built an ice cream maker that can probably churn out five gallons at a time. The power source is the antique John Deere tractor he restored a few years ago (see it in the background?).
I snapped this at the annual Music Jam at the Joe's Run Community Center yesterday. We were on our way out to a storytelling gig, but I'd seen Lonnie earlier and told him I wanted a picture of his machine. I think it's safe to say it's one-of-a-kind, the Johnny Cash Cadillac of ice cream makers.
I love this kind of ingenuity and creativity. Doing what you can with what you have at hand is the mountain way of life, and Lonnie and his machine prove that the old ways live on in new and unexpected ways.
