I drove up to our summer home to open it up and get things ready. I haven’t called to have the TV turned on, my phone was dying, and the only charger I have is in the truck. I called my wife to let her know I was leaving my phone in the truck to charge so she shouldn’t worry if I didn’t answer. She says “no phone and the TV isn’t turned on, what are you going to do?” I’m gonna leave her a note for when she gets here warning her to be careful. That’s what I’m going to do.

It’s just a cheap double sided aluminum oxide stone from the hardware store, but the knives are vegetable sharp now. There just cheap knives. My wife puts everything in the dishwasher and then in a drawer in with everything else anyway.

Sounds like a very relaxing time.

It was. Not once did she complain about the sound. She says it’s like finger nails on a chalkboard to her. I’m flying back to Florida tonight and she is flying with my two youngest to Michigan tomorrow. I’m breaking out the water stones and having at the kitchen knives in Florida while I have the chance.

Nice. Isn’t it relaxing to have a beer and some music and just do something that you enjoy?.

The metal on metal sound of sharpening drives my wife up a wall. She’d rather hear nails on a chalkboard on repeat for an hour. So I do it outside. Especially when she announces that she’s carving x for dinner and this knife need to be sharpened. My kids as much as I tell them to cut on wood or fiber cutting boards insist on the stone counter top to cut cheese or meat or whatever on.

I’m pretty mental about treating my personal knives very well and I only hand wash the kitchen knives. But I rely on her to let me know when they need sharpening as she uses them most of the time. I have 2 knives of my own I use for carving brisket or prepping chicken that I don’t let others touch. As soon as the kids start paying triple digits to buy and wreck their own knives they are welcome to.

It's a cathartic experience.