This Sunday a group of us went to visit Phil.  He is an aboriginal man who makes didgeridoos.  It is really quite amazing.  He can look at a person and know which piece of wood is just right for them.  To get the raw wood he and his brother Pat go out to Chillagoe and look for the trees that have been hollowed out by termites.  They cut these trees down, after asking permission of course, and take them back home to be fashioned into instruments.  When we got there he had several pieces laid out for us and after looking us over he picked out one for each of us.  Next we got to begin the process of making them.  We each got a chisel and a mallet and made the opening at the bottom of the didg wider.  After we had finished hacking away we got sandpaper to smooth it down.  Next came bark removal with a machete, which was really fun.  The knife slid through the wood like butter.  Phil and Pat used power tools to smooth the outsides of our didges.  It was so cool to watch the different colors of the wood reveal themselves.  You never would have guessed how different each piece would look from the outside.  After the sanding was complete we coated them in varnish and left them to dry while Phil showed us how to play on some other didges he had.  We left knowing that he would pick out a unique totem for each of us and when he presented them on Thursday not only would we have a beautiful instrument, but it would be made just for us and fit our personalities.