My Zone

["Kent and Karen Ivey" <kkivey@zzzzzzz>]

Oscar , maybe you are right , too many questions maybe, and maybe John is right , the lack of thought is sometimes the start. And Brian  has a good way of putting the answer. Think too much and that spot "tween the first joint of the thumb and the index and the wrist will swell right quick.
I have come late in life to stone , but have experienced the zone in other places.
In the oilfield , working 90 feet up in the derrick at three in the morning , tripping out the drill string.... if you think too much here , you make really BAD mistakes, and dead men don't swell.. not for awhile anyway.
In steam boilers, crammed into spaces that men half my size think they cannot get into , 140 degrees F and working like mad to roll and seat  the 800 boiler tubes before you drop from heat exhaustion...  the rhythm takes over there , and you become one with the tools.
In welding, in the midst of a petrochemical plant , putting the root pass in large diameter pipe that is going to be X-rayed  by the second most unpleasant person in the world , who has the power of "Interpreting" the work you do, all work done way up in the air in the midst of a sandstorm and so loud  you can only communicate with handsignals.. the zone is a friend here.
Also in the oilfield , working the floor of a drilling rig, 5 men working so closely together that it looks like ballet, perfect timing, too busy to talk , only able to grin now and again when a particularly perfect joint has been made  with 14" , 90 foot tall solid pillars of steel.... "course , like in the ballet , one never wants to sit on the front row... better when you are far enough back so you don't hear the grunts and heavy breathing.
In stone ... I find I have to have a certain level of fatigue before I can even approach the zone. And the wife  has to be in a good mood too. When the Queen is happy, everyone is happy.
But I get there, usually takes me about two hours of piddling and plodding , and I must have music,  either classical or Swing, Harry Conick always puts me right there too. I seem to stay in the zone till my muscles betray me , and I make a slip that forces me to stop and reassess how I am going to work this obvious ( to me )  huge ( to me ) mistake into the final form.
These are a few of the places  I have encountered the zone, at least while I was sober.
And yeah , I guess it does mostly involve stopping my head .
But in Art... I would really like to hear  more of how ya'll feel in the zone.
Thanks ...
Kent Lee Ivey