Knife Sharpening - Colorado Style

I meant to drop my knives off before I left for California. Really! I did! The last time I got them sharpened was in summer of 2007, and they've needed a resharpening for a while now! Unfortunately, the knife sharpening place at our local mall (complete with a staff sporting mohawks and *a lot* of piercings) closed in early 2008. Every other local place I've looked into (read - not Denver) requires leaving your knives with them for a week! Not over night. Not even two nights. But an entire week! I cook almost every day. Not having my knives for a week is a handicap. Hence, wanting to drop them off before I left for my parent's house.

Fast forward to the present time. Brian's gone all week, and I don't do much cooking when he's gone. I meant to drop the knives off in Boulder on Friday when I was there, and forgot yet again (!!!). Guess I'm not in the habit of carrying my knives with me when I head into town. I was talking to a neighbor about dropping my knives off a for a week, and how I couldn't remember, and he mentioned some guy out in Lafayette who sharpens knives. Although my neighbor hadn't used him, he came highly recommended. So yesterday I made the call. Today after Bible study I drove out to his farm.

Yes.... his farm.

He'd given me good directions, like "after turning on ______ road, just keep on driving until it ends, " and "after you get there, just wander around 'til you find me." After driving to what seemed like the middle of Colorado, I found him. Here, in this setting.........

Here was the view on the other side of all those luscious trees..

I wandered around until I found him out by one of the barns, repairing the engine on his riding mower. His wife was hacking at the weeds with what looked like a machete. Our expert jack of all trades sharpened most of the knives in his mobile sharpening van (which I found out he takes to the Boulder Farmer's Market on the weekends), while doing the serrated edged knives on a different piece of equipment in the barn.



I felt like I'd entered some sort of alternate, "Good Eats" universe. There I was, in the country, getting my knives expertly sharpened on different grinding stones, while my kids played on the farm. The trees overhead were old and lush, a rare gem anywhere in Colorado, but even more so on the plains. Clouds drifted by overhead, and in the distance one could still see snow on the higher Rocky Mountain peaks. I talked with the knife sharpener's wife while the kids chased dragonflies out by the pond and played in the trees. It's almost like I was leading someone else's life. To top it all off, all 7 of my knives were done in just over half an hour, and the cost was only $30. Can't beat that! Now even my straight edged knives will cut through a tomato with no problems at all. Maybe I'll broil some tomatoes with pesto sauce out on the grill tonight.

The downsides of heading out the farm for knife sharpening -- bugs and dirt. Caitlin got a bug bite on her face, and her cheek is swollen. The poor girl's a bug magnet - and a sensitive one at that. The kids are also quite filthy! They had a blast, but the amount of dirt they attracted in the short period of time we were there was massive. They had fun on the tractors and chasing the dragonflies. Good thing they're due for a bath tonight.