Meet John. He restores metal downtown. Lots of metal.
I spoke with him when I was downtown for lunch on jury duty selection day.
John used to teach shop but it was difficult to land a full time teaching position.
How about these doors that have been restored?
Here’s the BEFORE. Check out left top corner 
I have to return to photograph some elevator doors he has restored. I should have asked him if he redtored the ones in the City County Building?Bronze elevator doors post, my guess? yes.
The family came to Grandma’s house today.
The highlight of my summer!
And Anna likes to check things out around the place. We found a tarnished, dented silver rattle of her father’s from 1976. It was badly tarnished.
I asked her if she’d like to learn how to remove the tarnish, talked about oxidation, and how to polish silver. We found a few old baby cups that were up high on a kitchen shelf and seemed a bit fuzzy. We got a ramekin and she poured the baking soda in and then the littlest bit of water to make a nice paste. I found an old washcloth to rub the metal. We added an apron for her and she polished away.
I have lots more tarnished silver if she wants to dig in.
And here is what she said to me as she polished away…..
“Your dad would like that I am doing this.”
and I got a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes and thought, she is exactly right.
Anna at the sink with her father’s old rattle after she polished it! WIsh we had taken the BEFORE shot with the old iPhone first!
Baby cups on my mom’s old hammered aluminum tray, awaiting polishing.