I don't know what it is about steel and sharp edges either, just that I've been in love with the combination ever since I can remember.
I used to say that my old man had a death wish for me because he let me carry his old Western hunting knife stuck in my belt Without a Sheath when I was almost 7 years old.
But then I have to remember and thank him for all the independence he did let me have in that way.
There's just something about running my fingers very gently along a scary sharp edge and feeling the shivers run up and down my spine and reflecting on the power that's in the blade.
The power to either construct or destruct both man and other animals or the same with other life both alive or once having life.
I can imagine our first ancestor who first discovered a sharp rock and realized the same potential and then the power to shape the rock brought new freedom to us oh so long ago.
I was a very fearful young lad but after having been given the knife to carry I can't ever recall being afraid afterward as long as it was with me.
I used the knife as a tool and without consciously thinking about it always considered it as such, although I knew its potential as a weapon.
The knife opened up my world and I used it both to destroy and to build.
It helped build simple and, with other kid's help, more complex shelters by destroying the plants used to build them with.
I made my own bows and arrows and spears out of many different kinds of woods. I used it to cut splinters out of my skin as well as to clean freshly caught fish or peel or otherwise prepare wild or domesticated fruits and vegetables.
Along with my brain it gave me power over my environment and my life and it still does.
I think it's more the edge than the steel itself that does it for me as an old stone knife, arrow or other point still brings a sense of awe to me.
I have an old flint knife, very rough, such as would be flaked in a hurry for emergency use on my desk and I still marvel at its efficiency in cutting wet rawhide although it doesn't feel that sharp to my touch.
The steel just moves the edge along the evolution ladder as it is much more durable and, except for freshly chipped stone, sharper and more efficient.
I don't know, maybe it's because it ties me to my past and my ancestors that I feel that way, never gave it any, or at least not much, thought before other than just to wonder myself what I find so fascinating about sharp objects that are tools and am just trying to pin my thoughts down.
