A brief list of the things I've been learning of late in regards to my writing...
Logging.
There's a large bronze sculpture that's being erected in a town nearby in honor of those who have lost their lives in the logging industry. Logging in the state of Washington really didn't take hold until the early 1900s when a large migration of loggers came from the Great Lakes region. Of course logging occurred before this migration. A water-driven mill, created by the Hudson's Bay Company started operations in Vancouver, Washington in 1820. In Seattle proper, Henry Yesler build a sawmill in 1853. It's, of course, grown exponentially since then.
Taxidermy.
In the 1800s hunters began bringing their trophies to upholstery shops where the employees would sew up the animal skins and stuff them with rags and cotton. "Stuffed animal" comes from this crude form of taxidermy. Professional taxidermists today prefer the term "mounting" rather than "stuffing," and consider "stuffing" offensive. Why? Because it's an art. Just ask the people competing in the World Taxidermy Championships Competition (http://www.taxidermy.net/wtc/wtccomp.html).
Clarinets.
There's a man I found who collects all sorts of clarinets. His first, the one he played in elementary school, was a Bundy clarinet. Since, he's acquired better crafted clarinets.
The clarinet, by the way, developed from a Baroque instrument called the chalumeau. Clarinet bodies have been made from a variety of materials including wood, plastic, hard rubber, metal, and ivory. Most clarinets played by professionals are made from African hardwoods, most notably grenadilla, a wood also used to make oboes, flutes, and the Great Highland Bagpipe.
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