Margaritaville North

Last Friday Dale Burns had his display of chairs set up in front of the cabin on US-31, so I stopped.  He was hosting a pile of holiday visitors but took time out to tell me his story. Dale lived up here for about ten years, fixed up a classic cabin, and then decided to go downstate to work so that he could afford to retire right back here. (It takes a lot of us that way.)  He comes up a lot, especially this time of year.  He makes these comfy chairs, and on summer days when he’s in residence, he hangs the sign his dad made, hauls the chair display out on the lawn, and spends the afternoon shooting the breeze with visitors and making some sales. Think of it as Margaritaville North.

Dale’s cabin has lots of space for friends and family, so he has lots of visitors.  He made some rules.  First, each visitor has to make a creative name sign and hang it on the tree for the duration of the visit.  I forget what the other rules are, and so does Dale.

Bob and Janet Burns are Dale’s parents. Bob makes the intarsia pieces that cover the woodshop doors. Each design is painstakingly shaped and assembled from solid pieces of wood of different species, taking advantage of the natural colors of the wood.  Bob creates pieces with holiday themes, birds, teddy bears, cartoon figures—pretty much anything you could ever want.  I was especially taken with the pileated woodpecker.

It’s a nice summer pastime, this woodworking.  Nice to chat with visitors.  Nice to make a few sales.  So feel free to stop by when the intarsia Burns sign is out.  Talk to Dale.  Negotiate for some deck chairs or an intarsia hawk.  Spend a little quality time Up North.