Sharp Knives

Where, oh where, has my whetstone gone?  Where, oh where, can it be?

Knives need to be sharp.  Otherwise what good are they?  I guess they can serve as letter openers.  Or, paper weights.  Or, something to keep in the left jean pocket to balance out the wad of keys in the right one.

I prefer a good old fashioned "black steel" knife instead of the newer stainless or carbon blades.  Now, you can even get porcelain bladed knives.  But, me, I like the old-style blade that you can sharpen with a whetstone and put a razor edge on it.  The kind of knife where the blade just gets narrower and narrower over time until it eventually is sharpened away.

I know there are ways to sharpen the other kinds of blades.  I just never could get the kind of edge that I really wanted on them.  There are also easier ways to sharpen than a whetstone.  But, again, I could never really get the kind of edge like I want with anything else.  I don't know if it's just because this old dog is stubborn and doesn't want to change or if there is really something to it.  I just have my preferences I guess.

I think a good knife and a whetstone are a great illustration of our lives as we age.  If we want to be of use we have to keep the dullness rubbed off and lose a little hide now and again.  If we don't, we eventually become useless, left to sit in a drawer and rust. 

A good knife with a sharp edge can have a long and useful life.  That's what I want to be said of me when I'm gone -- he never lost his edge.