I went to downtown Akron today to check out the Innerbelt National Forest. It is a little plot of land (roughly 30 m x 30 m) in downtown Akron, next to the former Innerbelt and the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.

There are some sitting areas, a "sandbox", a stage/ampitheatre , a game/dining area.... and of course some trees.

It is just a concept, a pilot project, an idea of getting some green into downtown. Hopefully it has shown the City of Akron (& the State of Ohio) that it is possible and NECESSARY to get some greenspace / park area / community area into downtown. What will they do with the actual innerbelt land? What can they? Some forward thinking cities are building tiny home villages for the homeless, as well as a support services building. Is this close enough to transportation and other services they need. Could they build and awesome Food Rescue kitchen in this space? 

Her are the rest of my pics. I also looked at the beginning of the Towpath Trail

I am making some boxes, jewelry size. they are about 6"x4" or 6"x6"  (making several). The first ones I was making use dowels & glue to join the sides, then glue and brads/nails for the bottom and a top that just sits on it. I will post more about those later, since they are in process and take a bit of time.... Now i want to talk about the quicker box.

I had some leftover ready to use drawer side pieces and a small piece of 1/4" plywood. All I had to do was cut the sides to a proper length and cut the 1/4" to size. Then I glued and used my air gun to pin them. Put together in 10 minutes. Now the hard part. Decide on piece of scrap to use as a lid. I settled on some maple since the tones are similar (though that will probably change when I apply the Danish oil and sealer). I did think about using a piece of cherry or mahogany for contrast. Cut to size, take to router table and profile the top with a 5/32 roman ogee bit. Now for a bunch of sanding (120, 220, 320 grits) Then apply 2 or 3 coats of Danish Oil (natural --- should I buy some that has more color to it??? so many choices in finish). Then a coat of wipe-on poly. I bought some 1" x 1" hinges, though I wish I had better choice in color, I wanted something darker to contrast the light wood ( more time on Amazon searching).

I will get finished pictures in a couple of days. The Danish oil is supposed to dry for a couple of days before overcoating with anything.

I like the quickness of these, but the cost of pre-slotted wood is too much. I also like the half inch. My other boxes are full 3/4" wood and they are solid & hefty!. I might plane some hardwood down to 1/2", or maybe some cedar fencing. There are always so many options.

HINT!!!
routing profile : ALWAYS route ACROSS the grain (the end grain) FIRST.
It will tear out a little bit of the side, which you will clear up when you route the side.
Also, rout little by little, not the whole profile at once. I did the profile by working the wood into the bit a touch at a time until I finally got it up against the bearing.