It has been my pleasure over the past six years to welcome many new blogs to the woodworking blogosphere. I have seen many of them come along – some making a big splash, while others have flown under the radar. I have seen some with very short runs, while others keep going on a steady pace.

About one month after I started my blog, a very talented woodworker came onto the scene – and she had longevity on the internet.  Talk about expertise. This blogger forged her own plane irons, built her own planes, demonstrated in clear language how to carve and threw herself into the online woodworking community with reckless abandon, much to our benefit.  During the six years of her blog, she has thrown open the doors of her shop to invite us in to see how she does her work. To show us examples of outstanding pieces she saw at different museums and other places she had visited. She showed us where she was going to teach and how she instructed her students. She showed us the definition of determination when learning new techniques. And, she showed us the meaning of patience as morons like me asked countless questions about what she was doing and how I could do the same things in my shop.

By now, you must know I am referring to Kari Hultman of the Village Carpenter. Earlier this week, she announced on her blog that she was making her last post.  It’s totally understandable why she did this. A recent health scare in her family caused her to refocus on the important things in life, and I applaud her for her decision. This also allows her to woodwork on her own schedule without having to worry about ‘feeding the beast’ on a regular basis.

In many ways, Kari is kind of like the Beatles of woodworking. She is leaving the online woodworking world at the top of her game on her own terms and on her own timetable. Each of her recent posts is still a masterpiece of clear communication and awesome woodworking knowledge, and I’m sure she could continue to produce online woodworking content until the cows come home. But, for now, the Village Carpenter door has closed, and I will be waiting to see when a new one opens.

Does this mean that Kari is giving up woodworking?  Heck no. She’s going to continue working in her cozy Pennsylvania shop, producing more museum-quality pieces. She will still be out there at woodworking conferences, rubbing shoulders with other appreciative woodworkers. And, I’m sure, that one day in the future, she will be contributing again to the online woodworking community.  I can feel it in my bones.

Thus, the title of today’s post.  In German, the farewell of auf Wiedersehn does not mean goodbye, it means ‘until I see you again.’ Kari, here’s to you, until we see each other again in the online woodworking community. Thanks for everything.