“It was my pleasure and actually my duty to do it and I enjoyed every bit of it.”

How many of us can speak with such certainty about the fruits of a life we have carved out for ourselves?

Ninety-four-year-old Perl Totman is a wood carver known to most in the Mid-Ohio Valley as the man who carved two wooden sculptures that for years graced Marietta’s Muskingum Park and now stand at the Washington County Public Library genealogy library. The Frontiersman and The Pioneer have been restored, preserved and are once again on display for all to see.

But Totman has also traveled the world, carving and meeting people — sharing his gift.

“I enjoy doing this so much because of all of the people I’ve met who were interested in what I was doing,” he said.

Speaking of the origins of his celebrated sculptures, Totman said “When I saw these trees down by the river, I just knew that they had to be carved.”

His work and his life as a craftsman must spur others to see not only the beauty hidden in the ordinary, but to explore their own gifts as well.

“Hopefully this has been an inspiration to others to take advantage of the resources we have in this region and I hope people will be inspired to pick up a chisel and see what they can do,” he said.

Those who found a way to preserve and display Totman’s work should be commended. And the rest of us should take heed of Totman’s example and do our best to try to find out own calling while enjoying every bit of it.